Twin Passions
by DarkyLonewolf
Summary: The second year in Luna Nova proves to be more trouble than it's worth for Atsuko Kagari, as it seems that, aside from extra studying, the asian witch's got herself not one, but two troubles that even magic can't solve. Worst of all, these troubles stemmed from her two close friends' affections towards her...Or, basically, Diasukko Love Triangle shiz. Cover by uga AKA ugandam 00.
1. Prologue - Denial and Realization

_And here I am, writing yet **another** fanfic for this fandom! Partly because I just can't help it, partly because this fandom seems to lack some Diasukko love triangle goodness. Hopefully I didn't start this fic off with a cliche storm, because honestly, love triangle fics just feel like the most overdone thing to ever grace any fandom…Well, next to Coffee Shop AUs, that is.  
So, yeah, hope this didn't turn out too cringeworthy! I do hope to try and make it a tad more dramatic in later chapters, because I feel that the prologue may have made the fic go off to a less-than-serious start.  
In any case, have fun reading it, I guess.  
_

* * *

"Ugh, this is hopeless!"

Akko faceplanted into her textbook and groaned in frustration. She knew that she would have even more difficulties with Magical Linguistics during the second year, as it only got more difficult, but it still felt incredibly frustrating. Especially the homework they've got, that was the worst part.

"Well, what else did you expect?" – Sucy, who was currently sitting next to Akko, deadpanned as per her usual manner, while Lotte added: "It shouldn't be that bad – by the looks of it, the assignment is relatively average. We're merely repeating last year's material, that's all there is to it."

"Sure, but I still hardly have any grasp on the subject!" – Akko whined once again.

As much as Sucy wanted to help Akko out, she herself barely managed to get through with a B last year – although at least one part of her was sure that, had Finnelan not been biased to anyone not named Diana, she would probably get at least an A- – , so she thought that she was not one to even try to help the asian witch. However, one "trigger" was all it took for her to change her mind.

That trigger was Diana.

"Akko, if you need any help, you can come over to the Blue Team dormitory this evening and I could help you out with your homework." – The blonde said from not too far away.

"Now, that wouldn't be necessary, I can help Akko out just fine." – Sucy retorted as she stood up from her seat, slamming both her palms onto the desk and giving Diana a death glare.

The sole heiress sighed, and, looking over at the violette, asked: "Need I remind you that you had barely managed a B in Magical Linguistics last year? If anything, Akko would be better off studying with someone who has a better grasp on the subject."

"Oh lordy, here we go again." – Lotte quietly uttered, knowing that another "heated debate", as Diana sometimes referred to them in conversations, was imminent.

Meanwhile, the flame of an imminent debate between Diana and Sucy was already lit, and now both witches stood up from their desks and went into a full-on argument.

"Maybe I had low grades because that hag Finnelan is biased against anyone not named Diana in this class?" – Sucy fumed out, lucky that the teacher she was speaking ill about wasn't currently present in the classroom.

"If anything, she merely wants us all to succeed, and doesn't tolerate failure. Not that you would ever know how that works." – Diana answered, currently having had stuffed her textbook into her bag.

As much as Akko wanted to butt in and protest, she figured that if the two were to drag her into their argument, it would probably persist for the remainder of the day, so she just groaned and slammed her face onto the desk once more.

"Even then, what's in it to you from those study sessions with Akko?" – The violette once again responded, her jealousy already slightly evident.

"I merely wanted to help a struggling student out with their studies." – While Diana was busy making up excuses, Lotte had slipped Akko a note saying that she'll help the asian witch out with her lessons instead. Akko figured this would be the right time to shut the two arguing witches up.

"Um, girls…"

"By that logic, half the bloody class needs your help!" – Akko was genuinely surprised how loudly Sucy could shout sometimes, especially how it sounded compared to her quiet and subdued voice most of the time.

"Oh, now you're resorting to loopholes in others' speech? Talk about running out of sensible arguments." – Now there was a slight note of smugness in Diana's voice, which was punctuated by what Sucy described as "that stuck-up smirk", which, to her, was basically akin to a piece of cloth being waved at a mad bull.

"And here we have the one most tolerable student in our class. Totally not stuck-up and totally not overusing fancy English to make herself seem smarter than she really is. " – The violette retorted sarcastically.

"Oh, like you're one to talk about being tolerable, Miss Unhealthy-Obsession-With-Mushrooms-And-Poisons." – That haughty tone was beginning to set Sucy even further off. Luckily, before the argument could escalate any further…

" _ **Damare**_ _!_ " _( Jap. "Shut up!" – A/N)_ – Akko shouted out, silencing both witches. – "While you two were busy shouting at each other, Lotte already agreed to help me out instead and left class together with everyone else!"

After that, the remaining students opted to just leave the classroom and head back to their respective dormitories, since it was the last lesson of the day after all, although both Diana and Sucy couldn't help but pass the occasional death glare in each other's direction.

* * *

"Ugh, that was a hectic day."

Currently, Hannah and Barbera were quietly lying in the latter's bed, the blunette resting her head in the redhead's lap.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Getting back into the studying flow, and then there's the whole thing with Red Team and us going back to square one and arguing all over again…" - Hannah replied, running her hand through the blunette's long hair.

"Nah, it's not with all of them. It seems to be just between Sucy and Diana. And I think I know why." – As Barbera said that, her girlfriend raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Please, don't say "love triangle", Barbs. Because otherwise I'm just going to brush it off as the result of you having a little too much Nightfall fanfiction to read in your spare time." – The redhead retorted in a slightly deadpan tone.

"Come on now, Hannah-bee, you know these two are after that asian idiot. It's just **that** obvious." – As Barbera said that, she punctuated that last sentence with a shrug.

"Alright, let's presume I fell for your delusions, and wondered which one of them you personally think should be with Akko." – For all her love for the blue-haired girl, Hannah really had a hard time tolerating Barbera's occasional bouts of fanfiction-reading nerdiness.

"Well, personally, I think Diana and Akko would look rather cute together. I even came up with a couple name for these two. Diakko. Dai-ah-ko. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Maybe it does. But I still fail to see how these two would be a couple – for all I know, they're just too different for one another! Diana is a hard-working successful pretty girl, and Akko is, well, Akko." – Now it was Hannah's turn to shrug.

Had Diana not come back to the dorm by that moment, the discussion would have gone completely off the rails.

"Diana! How…Much…Did you hear?" – Barbara awkwardly asked, grinning nervously while Hannah just groaned, thinking "Yup, idiocy **is** contagious, and I'm going to have to treat her later."

"Heard what?" – Either the blonde didn't hear their discussion, or pretended that she didn't. Either way, after a bit of uncomfortable silence, the sole heiress added: "Anyway, I suggest you two stop with your cuddling and get over to doing your homework. After all, I'm sure it would be unsatisfying for either of you to be spending the weekend working instead of… You know, continuing with your constant display of affection."

The blonde certainly had a point, both girls agreed, and decided they might as well get off their bed and over to working on their assignment. Right now, matters of the mind were higher on the priorities list than matters of the heart – or others' hearts, for that matter.

* * *

"Wow, and here I thought this was going to be a rather scary amount of work for one assignment! Thanks for helping me out, Lotte!"

Just an hour after that, in the Red Team dormitory, Akko and Lotte had just finished working on their Magical Linguistics assignment for the Monday. Turns out that Akko ended up not having too much difficulties with it after all, and that, at the very least, she managed to retrace some of the knowledge she had from last year.

"Hey, don't thank me, you did this entirely on your own." – Lotte replied quietly. – "Besides, the assignment really wasn't all that difficult."

"But still, if you hadn't helped, I'd struggle with it for the entire weekend and then some!" – After the brunette said that, she immediately pulled the Finnish witch into a friendly hug.

"Akko, too tight!" – The ginger barely wheezed out, making Akko immediately release her grip on her. – "Anyway, now that we're done with that, I actually wanted to talk about something."

"It is about today's incident, isn't it?" – Akko asked, a slight note of annoyance in her voice.

"Well, more like an observation I've had about Sucy and Diana. I mean, have you noticed how oddly these two were acting in regards to you?" – Lotte remarked as she closed her textbook and placed it at the usual spot, as she had actually finished her assignment even before Akko did.

"Like how?" – Oh lordy, Akko had just set off an entire torrent of explanations with that question alone.

"Well, to begin with, there is the fact that they're both offering you study sessions freely, without you having to do any favors for either of them in return." – That was a rather true point – usually if Diana or Sucy offered Akko a study session, the catch was always that the brunette either had to do some favor for Diana or help Sucy out with her experiments respectively. – "Then there is how they always seem to try and sneak in a few extra seconds of contact whenever you end up close by with either of them." – And straight to a less reasonable observation that Akko was sure Lotte had to look extra hard for to notice. – "And don't even get me started on what was going on during the first year – with Sucy's odd tendency to play pranks exclusively on you and with them getting progressively less cruel with each iteration, and with Diana eventually mellowing out towards you and ending up on **much** friendlier terms with you, but staying neutral with me or Sucy. None of this rings any bells with you, Akko?"

Akko took a deep breath, for a long explanation warranted that she split the answer into several parts. After exhaling deeply, she spoke up: "Firstly, all of the things you mentioned have nothing to do with bells. Secondly, they're just trying to make it up for me for the rough start we've had in the first year. And thirdly, I presume that today's incident was caused by them probably just venting their stress on each other."

The ginger fin groaned in frustration, then proceeded to shout out: "You really don't get it? **Both Diana and Sucy have a crush on you!** "

" **Nani?!** " – There it was again, the Japanese slippage. As a small mental note to self, Akko figured she might need to have some extra English practice in her spare time, so that she at least wouldn't have those language slippages every now and then. But right now, there was a more pressing matter at hand.

What Lotte didn't expect from Akko, however, was for the girl to laugh out loud and outright fall to the floor as she did.

"Oh my gosh… Sucy…And Diana… Having a crush… On me?" – Soon enough, the brunette had stopped laughing, then, getting up from the floor, added: "Lotte, you're gonna kill me with your jokes someday, I swear!"

"But I wasn't joking!" – The ginger defensively retorted.

"Don't get me wrong, Lotte, I have a thing for girls more than for guys, but I doubt that it's going to be with anyone within this academy's walls." – After a few moments, she added, blushing a bit: "Not to mention that I'm just plain not ready for any relationships right now. And these two? Come on now, they've merely began mellowing out towards me. We're just on friendly terms, nothing further than that!"

At this moment, and thankfully not having heard the discussion, Sucy had come back to the dorm room.

"Hey, Suce, can you believe it? Lotte thinks you and Diana each have a crush on me!" – Akko blurted out, leading Lotte to gesture her not to go any further. As for Sucy, she immediately froze up on the spot.

Why did these words suddenly hit her so hard? She… She never had any of **those** feelings for anyone, let alone another girl… So why was it that hearing this from **Akko** , of all people, hurt her so badly? Whether it was the fact that Akko had Diana included in the "equation", or the fact that she didn't take the whole thing seriously, it seemed to noticeably sting the Filipino witch right in the heart.

"Yeah… Heh… You probably just read too many Nightfall fanfics in your spare time Lotte…" – Sucy chuckled nervously, trying to keep her feelings to herself.

After that, the remainder of the day went by rather uneventfully, although Sucy still couldn't help but feel a little hurt after the incident.

* * *

Later that night, when both Blue and Red teams were asleep in their dormitories, Sucy and Diana were probably the only ones who had trouble falling asleep, as neither could stop thinking about the recent events.

"Why did Diana suddenly get so generous?"

"What's up with Sucy getting so defensive when I merely offered her close friend a study session?"

"Well, I merely didn't want Akko to hang out with that stuck-up snob, that's all!"

"It was for Akko's own good, I just wanted to help…"

And then came a thought that they both had at almost the same time.

"Or maybe… There really is something else?"

Of course, soon came the denial…

"Tch, seriously now, Sucy… You're enough of a creep as you are, and now you're falling for another girl?"

"Come on now, Cavendish, keep this kind of thoughts out. What would your family think if they found out you were a lesbian?"

"Then again… Who wouldn't fall for Akko, anyways?" – Sucy thought, then turned over to her side to look at Akko, who was currently peacefully sleeping. – "She is actually rather cute, in her own dorky way…"

"And there's more to her than just cute looks." - Diana thought, looking up at the ceiling of the dorm room. - "She is nice to others, always willing to help, and believes that there is good in everyone…"

"I'm surprised that, despite all the cruel jokes I played on her…"

"It's interesting how, despite all the unsavory things I may have said about her…"

"She still puts up with me. And it seems that **I may have a crush on her**." - Both girls thought at almost the same time.

 _Surely, that second year was going to get very, very interesting…_

* * *

 _I needed to switch on to something else. And I needed to vent a little bit after bumping into a little too much Diakko fanart and fanfics recently, so there's that. However, venting the same way I did in a certain other fic of mine is a big no-no, so i decided to put that excess energy to better use.  
And with that said, and an exam I should have been studying for on the next day after I uploaded this instead of, well, uploading...  
Darky Out!_


	2. Chapter 1 - Decisions and Nightmares

_Wow, that's a new record, isn't it? When was the last time I posted anything since such short time after the last chapter for any other fic? Eh, doesn't matter.  
In any case, now the love triangle stuff goes into a different perspective, with Akko's side of things being shown, and a decision that's so Akko it hurts. But I'm not spoiling anything just yet - read the chapter to find out :D_

* * *

 _ **Pizdos**! That's a metric ton of reviews to respond to!  
 **DevilK:** Well duh, I did._  
 _ **Horseshoefijzer:** Can't say much on that one. I don't wanna spoil anything. And maybe, just maybe, I'll write a "bisecting the love triangle" type of ending as an omake when I finish this fic.  
 **GeminiAlchemist:** Hey, don't be blowin' my cover, I just tried to write something that, at the very least, could potentially satisfy both "camps". Not going to spoil any further details, tho :P  
 **Cielesia:** In the case with Diana and Sucy, I kind of imagine that, even after Diana and Akko get along better with one another, Sucy might just have some leftover animosity towards Diana throughout the Academy years, and as for Akko - eh, I do tend to make a mistake of not accounting for a character's limited vocabulary when writing dialogue. Can't say much on the formatting - I kind of split one speech line several times in that instance. As for the "said, spoke up, remarked" issue - I'm intolerant to both redundancy and repetitiveness, sorry. And yeah, that part at the end was probably the most fun to write out of the entire prologue :D  
 **ayo123:** Not frickin likely, boi/gal :P  
 **WizBiz709:** I'll try to make it at least worthwhile, thanks.  
 **IVIT:** Eh... Me no habla espanol. Me alegro que hayas disfrutado? Damn, I need to start learning Spanish after summer finals end.  
_

* * *

One would think that, after realizing their mutual crush for Akko, both Diana and Sucy would attempt to resolve the matter quietly and peacefully, like mature, responsible girls, right?

No such luck. If anything, the two seemed to be even more active with their attempts to win over Akko's affection, but at the very least trying to be as subtle about it as before.

From Sucy and Diana offering Akko some help with Alchemy and Magical Linguistics respectively, to either girl holding open doors for the asian witch whenever there was an opportunity for that, to eye contact a few seconds longer than necessary – yep, the girls were going at it with renewed vigor. There were even a few accidental moments of hand-holding during study sessions, too.

And of course, all of that just meant even more fights between the two. And it was often the remaining members of both teams – sans Akko, for a certain reason – who had to drag the two girls away from one another, so that they wouldn't end up tearing each other's scalps out.

And even Akko couldn't be oblivious enough not to notice. In fact, on one particular day, when Diana and Sucy ended up arguing over which one of them would take Akko out on a broom flight this weekend, the brunette quietly bailed out and snuck over to the table currently occupied by Green Team.

"You'd think that these two would think themselves to be above bickering over some girl, huh, Akko?" – Amanda remarked as the asian witch sat down right between her and Constanze.

"When it comes to love matters, all sophistication just goes into the trash." – Jasminka remarked, sending another spoonful of some bland cafeteria meal into her mouth, while Constanze just quietly nodded in confirmation with the russian girl's words.

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'm an oblivious dunderhead that didn't see two girls crushing on her even though they weren't even subtle about it!" – Akko shouted out, then immediately covered her mouth. Thankfully, it seemed that neither Diana nor Sucy heard her over their own bickering, and thus, a little quieter, the brunette continued: "It's just that, I can't even choose from either one of them."

"Why not? I think the choice is obvious – no one would want a stuck-up snob like Diana as their girlfriend." – Amanda replied, leaning onto the table and looking over at the two fighting girls who, mercifully enough, had ceased their debate and just headed over to their respective tables – with Diana sitting down next to Hannah and Barbera while Sucy sat down next to Lotte and a couple other completely random students that, honestly, sat next to Lotte just to keep the ginger some company.

"Yeah, but…I just don't want to break either one's heart, you know? I like them both – not as in "like-like", but simply "like" – and I just don't want to leave one in favor of the other." – Akko remarked, blushing as she first looked over at Diana, who had demonstratively pushed her plate away when Hannah and Barbera began showing too much affection towards one another, then at Sucy, who apparently did something that made all of the people sitting next to her, save for Lotte, run off in fear.

"Welp, then none of us are of any help to ya, then. " – The redhead responded, scratching the back of her head. – "Speaking of which, do ya know if Lotte's going to be busy this weekend or not? I wanted to offer her a quick broom flight across the countryside later, ya know."

"She's going to sneak off on another of those Nightfall conventions of hers, so yep, she's busy alright." – Akko remarked, poking at her rather tasteless meal with a fork.

"Oh well, guess I'll have to tag along with her, then. Not a big fan of Nightfall – quite the opposite, actually – , but spending some time with her should make it worthwhile. As for you – just hope that Sucy and Diana won't tear you apart as a result of their fighting. " – And with that said, Amanda went back to munching on the usual "tons of potatoes" dish, with the rest of the Green Team and Akko doing the same.

* * *

Honestly, Akko was really glad that the remainder of the day went by at the very least uneventfully – if anything, she just hated seeing two of her close friends bicker with one another and having to bail out as quickly as she could while Sucy and Diana were too preoccupied with their "heated debates". Luckily, there were no other such incidents for the remainder of the day, so at least she didn't have to hide for too long.

The day was still rather tiring, though, mostly because of even more homework and rather exhausting classes in general, so when Akko was going off to sleep, she pretty much passed out the moment she plopped down onto her bed.

* * *

 _A constant sense of fear had lingered within Akko as she ran away from some unseen threat. She didn't care what it was, the dream logic basically dictated that if she were to get caught by it, then the results would be disastrous. Out of instinct, when she felt like she was far enough from her pursuer, she briefly turned back to look at it._

 _The creature chasing after her was a rather odd girl who, while she was human from the hips up, had a long snake tail instead of legs. Even stranger, she did not have ordinary hair, but a bunch of snakes writhing chaotically._

 _She just needed to run, she didn't want to be anywhere near that creature… But as luck would have it, she somehow tripped on a completely flat =- not that she even saw the ground under her feet anyway, as everything was in complete and utter pitch-black – and fell down._

 _Soon enough, the odd creature caught up to her and…_

 _That creature was not just some random girl. There was no mistake that this… Thing… Used to be **Diana.**_

 _The monster had coiled her serpentine body around the brunette, trapping her in a strong grisp and hissing something incomprehensible while her snakes also seemed to hiss the same thing, like an echo._

 _Soon enough, an odd winged serpent swooped in and crashed into Diana with all it's might. It took just one sight at the serpent's human half to see just who it was._

 _Specifically, at how the half-human half-serpent's **puce hair** **was covering her left eye**._

 _ **Sucy.**_

 _Just when Akko thought she was out of the medusa's grip, Sucy's serpent half had coiled around her, and it seemed that her wings had enveloped her for good measure. The winged serpent said nothing, merely looked her in the eye with that oddly sultry grin on her face._

 _However, soon enough, the brunette felt the coiling double over, and noticed that now it was both Diana and Sucy who had her trapped. Worse yet, the two girls began angrily hissing at one another, tightening their grip with each passing second._

 _Akko could feel her breath leaving her, the combined strength of the coils was strangling, and worse yet, the two creatures didn't even notice that the "meal" they didn't feel like sharing was about to end up squashed and "inedible"._

 _Just when Akko heard some odd cracking, which was likely her bones giving out under the pressure, suddenly, Diana and Sucy's angry hissing began to slowly fade_ out as Akko could feel herself no longer being stuck in the grip of the twin vipers.

The brunette immediately sat upright on her bed after she woke up, and felt her body up to make sure that she really was dreaming. Her bones were intact, she felt no wringing pressure, she was no longer in a pitch-black void, but in the Red Team dormitory room, and she wasn't wrapped in two odd serpentine creatures' coils, but in her blanket, which was seriously tangled around her at the moment.

"Ugh, this is hopeless!" – The brunette whined into her pillow, making sure neither of her sleeping friends heard her. - "If I do decide on which one of them I "like-like", the other one's going to tear me a new one, but if I don't, I'll probably end up caught in the crossfire of their constant fighting!"

Untangling the blanket and lying back down, Akko had tried to go back to sleep, and hoping she'd have no nightmares for the remainder of the night.

* * *

 _Well, at least this time, the dream was a lot more pleasant. Akko had dreamt that she was a magical performer – a common dream for her, and she often dreamt that her friends were also amongst the audience as well, and she seemingly always tried her best._

 _Her last trick for the performance was a summoning of twin spectral serpents that were seemingly fighting one another, and a small ball of light that attempted to avoid the creatures' bites as best as it could._

 _The resulting illusion soon culminated in the two vipers biting each other and disappearing in a shower of sparks, with the ball of light soon doing the same, despite the fact that it wasn't even touched by neither viper's fangs._

 _"Thank you all for attending my performance! And I especially thank my former co-students for coming along here, too! Remember, y'all – a believing heart is your magic! " – Akko said, repeating the same line she often said in all her "magic performer" dreams.  
_

 _"Akko…" – Two voices seemed to echo at once, much to the brunette's confusion. She turned over to see where the echoing voices were coming from, and noticed two girls standing at a fair distance away from one another, giving her strangely longing gazes._

 _"Akko…" – There it was again, the echoing monotone. Akko immediately froze up on the spot due to just how unsettling the whole situation was, but somehow, what the two girls said afterwards didn't make her feel any more comfortable, as they both uttered in unison: "I love you, Akko. Please, don't break my heart, just make your choice…"_

 _"She's not getting up anytime soon, I suppose…" – Wait, what? Now there was a third voice, and it_ seemed to sound a lot less fogged than the others, as it seemed to have been coming not from Akko's dreams, but from the reality around her.

"Figured she would be so lazy." – As much as the brunette wanted to get up and smack the person who said that – no doubt Sucy – she decided to pretend to sleep for a little longer and see where this would go. Besides, what she heard from Sucy next made her immediately rethink that decision: "And I just wanted to take her out on a quick broom flight around the countryside after we're done with our morning routine. "

"And confess your feelings to her while you're at it?" – Obviously Lotte, with a slight note of excitement in her voice.

"I don't wanna rush things **that** badly." – The violette deadpanned. Soon enough, she noticed that Akko began to get up from her bed. – "Oh, look who finally woke up. Had any pleasant dreams tonight, sleeping beauty?"

Akko wasn't even sure how to take that sarcastic remark that, before, was just that – pure sarcasm. Trying not to seem too flustered, she replied: "Nothing too unusual or worth talking about."

"That was a rhetorical question, you nimwit." – Sucy retorted, although a certain part of her couldn't help but think that maybe those weren't the nicest words to say to the person she was in love with, so she added: "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a broom flight later this morning. The weather outside seems just perfect for a quick flight around the countryside. "

Well, Akko did want to at least check out what a date with Sucy would be like, just to know what she'll either be in for or missing out on depending on her decision, so she replied: "Sure thing, we'll go out right after breakfast, then."

"Don't take too long, then." – The violette replied, trying to mask her slight excitement at the prospect of going out on a "date" with Akko behind her usual deadpan attitude.

As for Akko, she thought that maybe she just had to see what it's like dating each of the two candidates before going in for a decision. She would go on several dates with each one of them, and after enough date, she'd finally make a choice and stop the two from bickering with one another! And surely, the blow would be somewhat lessened for the other, less lucky candidate, right?

 _Right?_

* * *

 _But of course, we all know that this plan's doomed to fail.  
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a big-ass exam to prepare for, and some leftover assignments to finish.  
 **Darky Out!**_


	3. Chapter 2 - Kisses and Comfort Zones

_Yee-haw! Guess who finally finished all their exams?  
I have to admit, I wrote this particular chapter in what seems like record time - the first draft was done in a matter of a single day.  
But honestly, I feel like I may have completely flunked the way I wrote Diana. I just have difficulties writing her, I guess. Sophisticated as hell gals are just not my thing. Except for Lilly from Katawa Shoujo, but that's something I'd leave for the more appropriate fandom. Maybe I'll write a Katawa Shoujo/LWA crossover someday, if I ever get around to it. _

* * *

_**Review responses. I just can't think of anymore original ways to start it off.  
** **Horseshoefijzer:** Yes, well... The plan backfired, but not in the way one might think it did. Also, yes, that dream scene was based off the cover image I chose for the story. I just love writing those pictue-based snippets.  
 **IVIT:** The exams went through nicely. Wish that the same thing could be said for my upcoming work practice, which is looking up to be troubling as all hell. Two weeks for two programs and a full report? Yep, I'm screwed. As for the fic - glad you're enjoying it!  
 **symbiotic:** I might consider that idea. Not as part of the fic, as I already have the storyline planned out, but maybe as a spin-off branching off from a certain point in the story. And as for the "bound to make Akko miserable and not want them both" - well, I have some angst planned for some of the later chapters, so you might want to be prepared for later on. Not for outright miserable Akko, but for a bit of feels maybe.  
_

* * *

 _Or maybe the plan wasn't so great after all.  
_ _  
_Akko's plan of dating both girls an equal amount of times to see which one of them she wanted to be with was basically cracking at it's very foundation way less than halfway through. First, the constant dates were getting to be exhausting. Second, these same dates were intervening with her studying, which meant that she had to take extra study sessions from Diana, Sucy, and even Lotte for good measure.

Third, **the asian witch still had no idea which girl she wanted to be with more.** Both of them were rather nice to her, and they both made their respective dates with her rather enjoyable – with Sucy, it was mostly broom rides not too far out of the academy grounds, or even the occasional flights over to the Forest of Arcturus, as the place was still had quite the scenery going for it even during autumn, with Akko often finding herself jumping into leaf piles and sometimes even dragging Sucy into them, even if the violette didn't have even a fraction of enthusiasm towards the activity. Meanwhile, Diana opted more for typical café and restaurant dates, although the places she would choose were far from humble, fitting the usual "fancy restaurant" bill – expensive meals served in small portions, fancy décor, and the visitors being mostly stuffy rich people, with the occasional common folks that just wanted to spoil themselves a little.

And her two latest dates with each one of them – a broom ride with Sucy over to their favorite forest clearing, and a visit to a particular lookout point in Blytonbury that was fairly popular with couples, courtesy of Diana. – each resulted in a near-kiss at the end. And each time, it wasn't Akko who initiated the kiss. Neither Sucy nor Diana were too clingy with the whole kissing idea – they only attempted to go in for it when they figured the time was right, and when Akko rejected their advances, at the very least, both girls were understanding enough to know that she needed more time to make her decision.

Then again… Maybe "rejected their advances" was a little too polite of a description for how it actually went…

(Flashback: Date with Sucy)

* * *

"Hey, I think you remember this place all too well."

When Akko and Sucy were returning back to the Academy, their path had inevitably gone through a particular cobblestone bridge. Naturally, remembering just how amusingly her first meeting with Akko went, the violette couldn't help but give her not-yet-girlfriend a nice little reminder.

"Yeah, this is the place where we first met, actually." – The brunette replied, blushing a bit. –"I tried to introduce myself, and you sicced a bunch of snakes on me, making me plummet right off the bridge and into the water."

"I do have to admit, as amusing as it was, I didn't mean for you to fall down into the river like this. I kind of wanted to spook you away for a moment just so that you'd leave me be, not make you all wet and miserable." – Sucy still couldn't help but snicker at that last part as she said that, though. – "And yet here we are again, this time as close friends."

"Yeah…Friends…" – A slight change in Akko's tone of voice suggested that she was still unsure whether she really did consider Sucy just a close friend, or was she really that over her.

After all, over time, she discovered a hidden, softer side to the girl. For all her usual sarcasm, abrasiveness and occasional mischievousness, Sucy could actually be a reasonably nice person every now and then – she just wouldn't outright dote over an object of their affection like no tomorrow, only showing affection when she thought that the person she directed her affection at had earned it. But even those rare moments of affection were often backed up by sarcastic, but not mean remarks, or by some harmless pranks that were ultimately done away with by virtue of one well-timed Resolvo spell – which even Akko had no difficulty over, probably because she had to use that spell rather often during her summer practice to undo some of the results of her less-than-stellar spellcasting – but even that seemed to give a certain charm to Sucy. She wasn't outright toxic towards Akko like before, most of her pranks and sarcastic remarks being more mischievous than scathing.

And it wasn't like Sucy didn't have the looks to back her oddly charming personality up. While the alchemist would often consider herself far from being the pretty kind of girl, Akko disagreed with that notion – if anything, the violette's rather odd appearance seemed to give her a certain air of mystery, which seemed to fascinate the asian witch by quite a bit.

The girl was building metaphorical walls around herself her whole life, and Akko genuinely felt like she could be the only one to be able to successfully break through them…

As Akko stood there, lost in thought, Sucy decided she might as well take a risk. All of her inner voices were screaming at her not to do it, that it's a foolish decision, and that if Akko really has a thing for Diana rather than for Sucy, she would hate the violette for her attempts to woo her over… But one, single voice, one that usually stayed silent, but was given a lot more freedom over the past months continued chanting " _Kiss her. Kiss her. Kiss her._ "

Soon, the Filipino witch found herself getting closer to Akko. Just mere inches away from a kiss. All she had to do is.

"Sucy!" – Akko immediately pushed the violette away… Only to make the violette plummet off the bridge and into the water. Gasping in shock, the girl responded: "Oh, I'm so sorry, Suce! I just… This was so unexpected… I… Please, don't get the wrong idea, I…"

"Akko, just stop with the apologies, and get me back to the dorms so that I can at least get a change of clothes." – The violette replied in a heavily abrasive tone of voice, trying to mask her frustration over the fact that, in her mind, she heavily messed it up.

 _She was pretty certain that the other voices were scolding the "Love Sucy" like no tomorrow after that, with all their scolding, by extension, being aimed at her._

* * *

(Flashback: Date with Diana)

"Truly, the view here is quite charming, wouldn't you agree?"

That was one of the few things Akko could agree with Diana on. The blonde wasn't lying when she told her that the lookout point at the particular restaurant she invited her over to today was basically the place's "selling point", so to speak. While a small part of Akko did wonder just how much it could have cost to reserve a spot at the roof of the restaurant, the rest of her was just marveling at the view they've had from up there.

"Yes, it's…Pretty, I guess." – Was all that Akko could utter at that moment. Right now, Diana had already paid up for the two girls' meals – which were as humble as ever, and the two were just sitting there and enjoying the view. Well, it was mostly Akko who did, while Diana tried to get the girl's attention in one way or another.

And just like on her less-than-stellar date with Sucy, Akko was rather lost in thought all over again.

Diana was… Well, after the past year's events, she turned out to be an easy one to approach after all. Sure, she had a low tolerance for people who weren't as intelligent or high-class as her, but over the past year, Diana seemed to have gotten over that, at least for Akko specifically, and the two were on much friendlier terms even before Akko's dating attempts. If anything, the Japanese witch learned that, for all the remarks about Diana being the "stuck-up" kind of person that Sucy or Amanda would give out, she didn't look down on everyone who didn't match her social standings.

"Well, I suppose the moment's past. As much as I would wish to stay here a little longer and admire the scenery, I think we both agree that getting into trouble for getting late in exchange for getting to admire the rather scenic view from here is far from a fair trade." – Even the girl's oddly eloquent way of speech had some odd charm to it. It was rather interesting how Diana managed to be a good combination of smarts and good looks.

"Akko? We should be going now. Are you spacing out again?" – Diana asked in a tone that was mostly annoyed, but also had a very slight bit of concern to it.

"Oh, um, sorry, yes, I think we should get going." – Akko blurted out as she bolted upright from her seat, making Diana sigh in exasperation.

On their way back to the Academy, Akko continued to remain lost in thought, still thinking about what seemed to attract her to Diana.

She was certainly pretty, that was undeniable. She was rather eloquent and smart, that counted too. Lastly, it turned out that, if one really gets to know her, then she wasn't such a stuck-up snob like everyone thought she was.

And yet…Why Akko couldn't help but feel like something was amiss about Diana? Not her troubling childhood that she found out about later, a good half of the students had gone through quite a bit of trouble because of their magical abilities or lack thereof. It was as if the blonde was…Constantly restricting herself in some way? Akko couldn't really tell.

Once the two girls had arrived and it was time for them to part ways, Diana decided to go for a rather bold move. While she still agreed that it was a far from stellar idea, she figured that, at the very least, she could attempt to kiss Akko, although there was quite a bit of doubt on her part, as she knew all too well that if the brunette is more attracted to Sucy than to her, then it would be a huge failure on her part, and would probably alienate Akko by quite a bit.

Of course, her attempt at kissing Akko was met with a forceful shove… Right into another student passing by.

"Oh, look at the lovebirds returning." – The unlucky random student remarked as she pushed Diana off of herself and stood up. – "A little less shoving in the corridors, please?"

"My most sincere apologies." – Diana replied, then looked over at Akko and added: "And I most ardently apologize to you. It was a rather foolish move on my part." – And with that said, the blonde departed for the Blue Team's dormitory.

"So, how did it go?" – Barbera asked as soon as the sole heiress entered their shared dormitory.

"I don't wanna talk about." – Diana replied, utterly failing in her attempts to keep a confident façade and just tiredly plopping down onto her bed once she had the opportunity to. – "The date had gone horribly wrong at the very end, with me being the main reason for such failure. And I heavily suggest that neither of you pry on the matter."

 _As if she was going to let either one of them in on it if they did._

* * *

Even a dunderhead like Akko could see that both girls had noticeable issues. Diana's high social standing left her as the kind of person who seemed to always restrain herself in some things – as in, restraining herself much more than an average person should, almost being a prisoner of her own high standards – while Sucy had heavy trust issues and had difficulty showing affection towards others, as even after she mellowed out towards Akko and throughout their dates, she was far from being an affectionate person.

 **And the two girls' respective attempts to kiss Akko were probably the furthest they managed in their attempts to get out of their usual comfort zone.**

Akko figured she just couldn't leave one girl in favor of the other. If she left Sucy behind, then the girl would probably stay an ineffectual loner for most of her life. And if she were to leave Diana, then the two would become emotionally distant all over again, with their "friendship" going back to the same level of constant vitriol as it was before.

Akko was basically stuck in the worst Morton's Fork in the history of Morton's Forks. And she hated it with all her being. Worst of all was that, after the incidents…

 _ **Both Diana and Sucy were bickering with each other even harder than ever!**_

* * *

 _I guess you could attribute Akko's odd judge of Diana's character to Akko being, well, Akko, and making one of her "missing the point" guesses? I just don't know how to justify that trainwreck I wrote.  
So, with my exams now left behind me, there's just one thing for me left to finish. And that's work practice. The good news is that I won't be stuck for full work days throughout the two weeks_ **.** _The bad news_ _is that I'm left working with the software that I am completely clueless in. Great.  
So, with a chapter that was written a little too quickly and had little to no corrections...  
Darky Out!_


	4. Chapter 3 - Wildfire and Accidents

_Oh boy, now it's getting interesting._

 _Now that my work practice is finally done, I can safely get back to writing. It's rather ironic that I'm posting a new chapter for a DiaSukko love triangle fic right in the beginning of Diakko week. Kind of makes me wish Sukko week was a thing, though._

 _Purple prose, mean-spirited insults during Diana and Sucy's fight, and then it gets a tad angsty near the end of the chapter. Yup, it's a Wham Chapter. And hopefully it's going to be effective and not too narmy._

* * *

 ** _Review responses all over again!_**

 _ **GeminiAlchemist:** Yup, Akko just can't do many things right. And, well, in this chapter, she reaps the consequences big time. _

_**Horseshoejfijzer:** Work practice went perfectly fine - 98 points out of 100, which I honestly didn't expect of myself, especially with how much trouble I had during program testing, the one part that I hated the most. As for the fic proper - I'm just trying my best. Like I said in one other fic, it's kinda hard for me to write Diana since she is not the type of character I can easily write. _

_**IVIT:** Why yes, she was shoving them like no tomorrow XD Glad you're enjoying the fic so far.  
_

* * *

The week afterwards, Akko decided she'd be better off trying to forget the incidents that happened during her respective dates with Sucy and Diana. Or rather, that's the conclusion she came to after she just barely made it through a more recent test, with failure being avoided just thanks to a cram study session with Lotte – the brunette knew for certain that she would have certainly failed that one without her close friend's help.

On this particular Saturday, the Japanese witch decided she might as well take her time with broom practice. Throughout the summer, she made quite a bit of progress in her broom training – whereas during the end of the first year she could just barely float a few meters above the ground, now she was at least a half decent flyer, going at more notable heights and flying rather quickly. That being said, however, one thing she understood during her practice was that broom control was one of her weakest points in her flight skills, so she went with exactly that. It helped that her friends from both the Red Team and the Green Team were doing much of the same – well, Amanda was teaching Lotte some broom flying tricks, Constanze was testing out one of her new Techmaturgical Brooms, and the others were just watching from a slight distance away.

Sucy in particular had her attention rather heavily focused on Akko's flight, her normally stoic expression replaced with a subtle smile

"Truly, she is making quite a bit of progress in her broom flight practice, won't you agree?"

Ugh, Miss Stuck-Up all over again. Sucy angrily glared over at Diana, who was standing just nearby and also watching Akko fly around on her broom, having surprisingly good control but currently having had slowed it down to slowly drift through the air.

"I guess she is." – The violette replied, a tiny note of suspicion in her tone.

"A lot more progress than in **your dates with her** , wouldn't you agree?" – The low blow was unexpected, and it was but an ember that caused a tiny smolder of an imminent fight.

"Speak for yourself." – Sucy retorted, immediately looking over at Diana, who had the tiniest hint of a haughty smirk on her face. – "Nina's ranting when Akko shoved you right at her could be heard throughout the entire dormitory section. Nice kissing attempt, I'd give you that."

"Says the girl that came back in soaked clothes after being shoved off a bridge after **her** failed kiss." – Oh, now the smoldering began to grow into a small flame of heated debate, threatening to go into a full-on wildfire if both girls continued to toss more fuel in.

"Hey, at least our date went a lot better than yours did – she must have been bored to death at that fancy restaurant of yours." – The violette retorted, her expression now a toothy smirk.

"At least I can afford to take her on proper dates, and not just fly a couple circles around the countryside on a broom and call it a day." – The blonde demonstratively readjusted her hair as she said that, her haughty smirk now more prominent. From that point on, the girls' fight went over to the subject of how successful their dates with Akko were.

As for Akko herself, she noticed that the girls began debating over her all over again and sighed. Ugh, if only these two understood how much their constant debates get on her nerves! Exhaling sharply, the girl switched back to flying at reasonably high speeds, and decided she might as well see how well can she do on tight turns.

Meanwhile, not too far away from Akko, Amanda and Lotte also noticed the two arguing girls back over on the ground, with the latter actually stopping mid-loop and now rather comically hanging off the broom as she held on to it for dear life with both her hands.

"Oh, would you look at that, Miss Stuck-Up and Miss Creepy are fighting again." – The redhead remarked while Lotte struggled to get back into a more reasonable position.

"I swear, these two are going to fight over her all the way to graduation." – Lotte added, shaking her head in dismay as she gave up on her attempts to get back up onto her broom and continued hanging. As Amanda helped her get back onto the broom into a more proper position, the ginger continued: "Next thing you know, Akko might just choose someone else entirely just so that they'd leave her alone!"

"Hey, you yourself said she loves them equally. Why can't she just have 'em both if she's so lovestruck?" – Then, under her breath, the Irish-American added: "Although seriously, if I were in Akko's place, I'd stick with Sucy. Diana just needs someone who is just as high-class and stuck-up as hell like her, y'know?"

Constanze seemed to have taken some interest in the heated debate going on between Diana and Sucy, as she had continued just silently hanging in the air on her broom, listening to the verbal fight between the two girls.

The remaining ones on the ground – specifically, Jasminka, who was joined by Hannah and Barbera at around the same time Diana arrived. – continued watching the debate unfold from a safe distance, with Jasminka teleporting in a popcorn bag out of her stash and casually munching on the corny goodness.

"Seven bucks says their debate is going to go further than just words." – Barbera remarked, secretly rooting for Diana but deciding not to speak out on it. As for Hannah, she just sat there with a minor "WTF?" look on her face.

"And three more says magic will be involved." – Jasminka remarked just before grabbing a couple more kernels from her popcorn bag and tossing away a few unpopped ones.

"Alright, alright, bets accepted." – Hannah deadpanned. Wow, since when did she begin getting involved in this nonsense?

* * *

As for Sucy and Diana, their debate had, as predicted, gone into a full-on wildfire as they went on to personal insults.

"And if anything, Akko would never want to hang out with a creep like you. Not to mention that a mushroom-obsessed girlfriend is the worst thing that can happen to anyone." – Diana remarked when Sucy went silent after one rather scathing remark about her choice of dating places when going on dates with Akko.

"Neither would she want a stuck-up snobby **bitch** like you! Oh look at me, I come from a famous as hell family and I have the right to look down on everyone like they're some trash, and the fact that I even bothered with Akko is but an act of charity, ho-ho-hoh!" – This sarcastic impression seemed to have hit a nerve with Diana as well, as the blonde grit her teeth in anger upon hearing it.

"At the very least, I come from a well-known family. And what of you? You're an orphan, left by your parents to accidentally kill yourself by drinking poison because even they thought that you were a freak! So naturally you latched onto the one and only girl that even bothers putting up with you!" – Now it was Sucy's turn to grit her teeth in anger, as Diana's remark was downright mean-spirited. Most of the side observers gasped at that one – Diana wasn't the type of person to get to such scathing personal attacks during debates.

"Speaking of parents, how's your mommy doing? Did her sickness worsen from finding out that her daughter is a lesbian and that House Cavendish will be left without a heir because of that?" – Now the debate wildfire was going through anything that was a "fire hazard" so to speak, getting ever-so-stronger as it went into outright mean-spirited territory.

"Think we should be concerned now?" - Lotte asked sheepishly as she and Amanda continued listening to the ongoing debate.

"Yep, we should. When a fight gets to the point of personally attacking your opponent's family, that means that things are not looking good at all!" – The redhead remarked, sounding rather worried for the first time in her academy years. She just knew that this fight between Diana and Sucy was probably going to have quite a bit of effect on any bystanders, not just on Akko.

"They're reaching for their wands. Think we should take cover now?" – Jasminka asked, tucking her bag of popcorn away, with the only response from Hannah and Barbera being a quiet, scared nod. This was going to get messy…

And then they went to using magic, just as Jasminka predicted. Spells were fired left and right, turning objects into random stuff or knocking things aside. One particular spell – which nobody even saw who fired it – just so happened to fly off a little higher up than needed, and hit Akko square in the chest. And considering that she was at a high altitude, and that the spell was a disarming one, she was tossed right off her broom and plummeted down screaming.

"Akko!" – Both girls immediately rushed over to get on both their brooms and sped off to at least catch Akko on the way down. As the brunette continued falling, she could see that even in their attempts to save her, neither Diana nor Sucy wanted to cooperate, trying to shove each other off their respective brooms and culminating in them both also falling down – mercifully enough, they were just a couple meters off the ground, so nobody else had to "rescue the rescue team", so to speak.

 **But that still didn't change the fact that Akko was plummeting down to her doom!**

"Welp, that's it, their nigh-constant fighting has resulted in their close friend being left as nothing more than a messy splat on the ground! Oh, this so gonna leave a mark…" – The brunette shut her eyes tightly, waiting until she would inevitably hit the ground and feel the intense pain from the resulting impact…

Huh? She was seemingly caught in mid-air by not one, but two people.

As the brunette opened her eyes, she saw that Lotte and Amanda had grabbed hold of her, with the former looking incredibly concerned.

"Yikes. Had we been a bit too late, you'd be a witch pancake!" – Amanda remarked, trying to lighten the mood. Judging by Akko's still persisting panicked look, her attempt was a failure, so both girls had no choice but to just let her down to the ground.

When Sucy and Diana noticed that the object of their affections was safe, they immediately rushed over to check on her. The look on Akko's face was still of heavy shock, considering she was just saved from a near-death situation.

"Akko, are you alright?" – Both the blonde and the violette asked at once, then gave each other a death glare. That seemed to have been the last straw that broke the camel's back. Or rather, the last glare that made Akko snap.

" **Enough!** " – Akko suddenly shouted out, startling everyone. – "Did it really take putting me in a near-death situation for either of you to get it? For all your talk of how dense I am, you two are none too smart yourselves if you couldn't figure out that your constant fighting is downright **hurting** me – first emotionally, and now **physically**!" – The brunette's eyes were getting teary as she shouted that out. – "I decided to date you both equally and let you know about it, just so that you both could be happy! I couldn't choose either one of you in favor of the other because I cared about you both equally, but now I see that neither of you deserve such care!"

"Akko, you had a pretty nasty fall, maybe you should just-"

"Can it, Lotte, I'm not done yet!" – Akko interrupted, making the ginger fin recoil in shock herself. – "Yes, neither of you deserved it just because you two are **selfish!** Through and through selfish, with neither of you at all caring about **me!** "

"Akko, that's not true…" – Diana attempted to speak up.

"We were trying to make our respective dates with you as memorable as you wanted…" – Sucy added.

"Credit where credit's due, you did. But all of them were taking a toll on my emotional well-being, my academic career, and now it's your incessant fighting that almost left you two with a bloody splat on the ground instead of a friend!" – Now Akko was downright crying. – "You two are horrible as friends, and I don't even want to think of how my romantic relationships would turn out with either of you! I… **I hate you both!** "

Both Diana and Sucy once again recoiled in shock at that scathing statement.

"Yo, Akko, that's little too harsh, don't ya think?" – Amanda asked, a look of slight confusion and disbelief on her face. The other witches watching from a safer distance away were also rather shocked by Akko's, fairly enough, rather expected but overly extreme anger.

" **I don't care!** Now both of you-" – She looked back at Sucy and Diana – "Get out of my sight! Leave me alone!"

"I think she needs to spend the remainder of the day away from you two." – Lotte said to both girls, her tone indicating that, as much as she didn't want to admit her own words, there was certain, painful truth to them. And on that, Lotte and Amanda went to get Akko back over to the academy building and lead her into the Green Team dorm, with Jasminka, Constanze, Hannah and Barbera following them shortly thereafter.

Constanze gave both girls a silent glare, shaking her head in disappointment.

"One has to try **really hard** to tick Akko off like this. And you two managed it without even trying." – Jasminka remarked as she passed by the two girls, her normally gentle voice sounding rather cold and disappointed.

"You two screwed up, big time. Not even the worst of love triangles have this kind of thing happening in them!" – Barbera said as she and her girlfriend followed the other students as well.

"Fighting over the object of your affections is one thing, but ending up hurting her in the process? That's a whole new level of **awful.** " – Hannah added to the other girl's statement.

Well, guess Diana and Sucy had no other choice but to head back into their respective dorm rooms. As they went back into the building and passed the corridor leading to the dormitory section, neither of them even dared to say a word due to how ashamed they felt after the incident. Neither did they when they've had to part ways at a certain intersection in the dormitories corridor.

As they made their way back to their surprisingly empty dormitory rooms – seeing that everyone else seemed to have followed Akko over to the Green Team dormitory – and crashed down onto their beds, one single thought surfaced almost immediately in both their minds.

 _ **"Akko hates me now, and I can't fix it."**_

* * *

 _Ooh, look who decided to get angsty. I guess this is going to get largely ignored due to Diakko week and all that, so I'll try to make things a little less bleak in the next chapter._

 _With my work practice finally done, I have more free time on my hands than usual, which means that I'm probably going to write new chapters for either this, The Witchborn or Some Spicy Sukko Stuff a bit more often.  
_

 _Funny fact, just before finishing this, I've had a brief idea of writing some sort of quote about wildfire near the end of the chapter, but I've figured there is enough purple prose here already._

 _And with that said, and a lot of free time spent non-stop playing as Ivara in Warframe and re-completing Skyrim (not the latest remaster, blame mod incompatibility)..._

 _Darky Out!_


	5. Chapter 4 - Self-Loathing and Depression

_Yeesh... I tried to write something angsty, but I probably ended up writing something hella cheesy. I don't even know if this chapter was even half decent, honestly. I guess my problem is that I'm getting some "good on paper" ideas quite often, but I rarely end up executing them the right way. So, yeah, there's that.  
_

* * *

 _Wow, just one review? Yikes... Reeeally shouldn't have posted the previous chapter at the beginning of Diakko week.  
 **GeminiAlchemist:** Welp, it's getting hella angsty now. We're on a tear-fueled train, and it's not going to stop anytime soon. _

* * *

Later on, Akko was lying on Constanze's bed at the Green Team dormitory, with most of her fellow students having had gathered at the place. Amanda and Lotte were sitting just next to her, Hannah and Barbera were sitting on the bottom bunk that usually belonged to Jasminka, while the Russian girl herself was just quietly standing in the doorway, and finally, Constanze was quietly sitting on the floor, with her Stanbot just next to her, looking seemingly confused.

Akko didn't even want to talk to anyone at this point. She was lying on her side so that she faced away from the other girls in the room, appearing to have literally cried herself to sleep. Considering that she was in a state of serious emotional exhaustion at the moment, everyone else considered that a definite possibility.

"You think she's going to be okay?" – Lotte asked, sounding rather worried.

"I'm no psychology expert, Lotte. I honestly can't tell. Problem is, why did she make such a big deal out of it all?" – Amanda asked back, shrugging. Seeing several glares directed at her, even one from the ginger sitting next to her, she hurriedly corrected herself and added: "I mean, last time she got so through and through depressed was when she found out about her idol's horrible secret and why exactly she was almost unable to use magic at all whatsoever. But this just doesn't seem right. "

"Well, if you really think about it, there is much more to it than just another run-of-the-mill accident. " – Barbera spoke up, with Hannah giving her a slight surprised look. Afterwards, the blunette explained: "Considering that it was the fault of both Sucy and Diana that Akko ended up nearly plummeting down to her doom, and the fact that it were her two closest friends that almost killed her, even if it was an accident, then, well… I guess you all can put the two and two together. "

"Not to mention that she thinks of them as more than just friends." – Jasminka added, then, after a couple moments, elaborated: "After all, she truly cares about them, and doesn't want either of them to be unhappy, if the fact that she tried to give them both equal amounts of attention was of any indication. But with how they "repaid" her, it was no big surprise she snapped."

"So, what can we do about it?" – Lotte asked, looking over at Akko again, whose breath was still a little raspy from her crying. Something was telling the ginger that the girl was merely faking sleep, so that no one else would disturb her.

"I'm afraid there's not much any of us can do here. Unfortunately, the most you all can do for her is just leave her alone, and maybe let her get some rest. " – Hannah remarked, shrugging as if to emphasize her lack of ideas.

"I have to admit, you have a point here, Hannah. While I know that "sleep it off" is not the best option in such situations, I'm afraid she's just not going to cooperate if we try to get her out of her current state." – Lotte replied, sighing in defeat over being unable to do anything for Akko.

"Come to think of it, maybe she needs to spend a day away from the two main "aggressors", so to speak?" – Constanze said, startling everyone, considering that most students were yet to get used to her actually talking. – "I mean, that's probably a reasonable solution, considering that it was because of them that she ended up nearly dying. I'll get my things later this evening and go spend a night at the Red Team dorm for a bit, while Akko stays here, a safe distance away from Diana and Sucy so as to not aggravate her, erm, current state. "

"No need to act like they're some sort of plague or something!" – Barbera suddenly shouted. – "Sure, they screwed up, but I'm sure that outright isolating Akko is far from a good idea!"

"I second that. I don't think we should be going to such radical measures." – Lotte added, leading to Constanze groaning and grumbling: "I was just offering a possible solution…"

"Look, we'll get everything done with by evening. For now, I think Akko needs to be left alone for at least just a little while." – Amanda remarked, not wanting to tense up the atmosphere in the room any more. All the other girls present in the room agreed with her.

"Guess we should be going, then." – Hannah remarked, dragging Barbera along as they left the room, rushing just past Jasminka. The twin-braided girl just sighed and went on to exit the room as well. Constanze quietly followed the others out of the room, with her Stanbot running just behind her. And thus, the only ones left in the room together with Akko were Amanda and Lotte. After Constanze's Stanbot closed the door behind itself, Amanda said: "Alright, Akko, I guess you can stop faking sleep now."

Sighing, the brunette got up with a look of complete and utter misery on her face. Tear stains, empty eyes, broken expression. The only time that Akko looked this miserable was way back in the second half of the first year, after she found out how exactly she lost her magic and that everything she knew about her idol was a lie. Truly, the near-death experience must have had some after effects on the girl.

Even after sitting upright, however, the girl didn't even bother to say a thing to neither Amanda nor Lotte.

"Maybe we should leave the room as well, shouldn't we, Amanda?" – Lotte asked.

"Oh well, guess I'd better get back to my broom training. Don't lag behind, Lotts!" – The irish-american girl replied, running out of the room and grabbing her broom on the way out. Just as Lotte was about to stand up from the bed that Akko lied on, the brunette grabbed her by her hand and said: "Um, Lotte, if you wouldn't mind, could you stay with me for a bit? I kind of need to talk to you for a bit."

"Oh… Sure thing. Just one moment." – After the ginger exited the room for a while to warn Amanda that she won't be coming over to the training right now, it wasn't long before she returned back, and asked Akko: "So what's on your mindt?"

"I'm so confused." – The girl exhaustedly declared to the ginger witch. – "First Diana and Sucy were the best of my friends, and now they…"

"Akko, it's not their fault. Neither of them meant to hurt you. Sure, they've gotten a little careless, but I'm sure that…"

"You're right, this is not their fault." – Akko replied, then, after a couple moments of silence, she looked down in dismay as she added: "It's all my fault. A good friend should always make sure that her close friends don't fight, and… I not only failed them both as a friend, not being able to stop them from their constant fighting and bickering, but I've also said a lot of awful things to them when I snapped at them. I was the one who messed up."

"Akko, don't say such things about yourself!" – Lotte shouted, now genuinely worried for Akko. – "It is no fault of your own! Everything was just an accident, you probably were a little too frustrated so you vented at the first possible opportunity, so-"

Burying her face in her hands, the brunette spoke out loud: "Please, Lotte, no need to sugar-coat it for me. I messed up big time, it was all my fault, and I ruined not one but two relationships in the span of a single day. And no amounts of magic can fix this, or change one simple fact. "

 **"I'm the worst friend they could ever have."**

* * *

After Lotte's attempts to comfort Akko had proven futile and the brunette seemingly lied down for a nap, the ginger later made her way back over to the Red Team dormitory, and noticed that Sucy was currently lying in her bed, face-down into her pillow. Upon approaching closer, the ginger noticed that her roommate's pillow was thoroughly stained in tears.

"Oh…" – Was all that Lotte could utter as she backed away from her silently sobbing friend. Normally, Sucy wasn't the type of person to outright cry over anything, so it seemed that Akko wasn't the only one affected by the incident.

"Guess I'd better leave you be…" – The ginger remarked, backing out of the room, but soon getting stopped by Sucy whimpering out a weak "Wait…"

"What is it, Sucy?"

"Is… Is Akko alright?" – The alchemist asked, her voice sounding somewhat weak. Lotte's sad sigh was all the answer that Sucy needed, however, so she added: "Just as I thought. I completely messed everything up. "

"She didn't get hurt in the fall, but she is…" – Lotte retraced her steps back over to Sucy's bed and sat down next to the crying violette. – "Well, I guess all it takes is pushing someone past the breaking point to leave them so thoroughly depressed. She is insistently blaming herself for what happened, and…"

"What have I done?" – Sucy remarked in a voice full of pained disbelief as she heard Lotte's last sentence halfway through. – "Of course she blames herself for what happened. She does try to do her best for others rather than for herself, and… All I thanked her with was nearly killing her. I'm an awful friend, and I'd probably be even worse off as her girlfriend."

"First Akko, now you… Wow, I can't believe a single spell misfire can ruin so much." – Lotte remarked, rather disheartened by the fact that two of her best friends were in such a depressed state and that she was powerless to snap either of them out of it.

"It wasn't just the spell misfire. I was completely ignorant of the fact that my constant bickering with Diana was actually hurting Akko. And by the time I did realize it, it was just too late. I'm an awful friend, and an even worse girlfriend, Lotte."

 **"Or maybe I'm just a horrible person in general."**

* * *

Over at the Blue Team dormitory, Diana was quietly lying in her bed, looking up at the blank ceiling and wondering just where did she take the wrong turn that led up to the subject of her affections hating her.

Of course, Diana knew the answer to that question already, or at least she thought she did.

"This is where lack of restraint always leads. You go off on someone – you end up hurting yourself and your loved ones more than you hurt the person your outburst was directed at." – Diana spoke out loud to herself, since the room was still empty, considering that neither Hannah nor Barbera arrived yet. – "I guess Akko was right after all. For all the unsavory things I've said to her about her lack of smarts and about her sheer carelessness, I guess I'm not any less a complete and utter idiot myself. "

"Maybe we should just leave her be? The last thing she needs is any extra noise around her after all." – One of the two familiar voices said from behind the dormitory room's door.

"Neither of you have to be isolated from your own quarters on my behalf. You can come on in if you need to." – Diana remarked, raising her voice just enough so that her roommates heard her.

Sure enough, both Hannah and Barbera entered the room, looking rather worried about their roommate.

"Are you sure you're okay, Diana? You seem quite shaken after the incident." – Barbera asked as the more concerned one.

"I'm perfectly fine. It's nothing you two should be worrying about. I'm just feeling a little emotionally exhausted after what happened today is all. " – The blonde responded, not even bothering to look in the general direction of her roommates – they didn't need to see her looking so disheartened.

"We checked up on Akko, and, well, she's not exactly in the best state right now. Sure, she didn't get hurt during the fall, but she is…" – Hannah didn't know how to put it more delicately, so she took a deep breath and, after calming down, continued: "Well, let's just say she is pretty much twice as emotionally exhausted as either you or Sucy could be."

"She didn't even want to talk to anyone. I guess it wasn't the fall that hurt her after all." – Barbera added, earning a slap on the back of her head from Hannah for seemingly making Diana worry even further.

"Well, when she's more open to communication, give her my apologies for that misfire. I just can't talk to her in person after this incident." – The blonde replied, her voice sounding outright defeated.

"Oh… Of course we will, don't worry." – Barbera remarked, soon noticing that Hannah gestured her towards the exit door.

"Thank you, girls. I guess you two can go now." – Diana said, turning on the other side as the two girls went on to leave the room.

"Let us know if you need anything." – Hannah responded while she and her girlfriend went on to exit the room, leaving Diana with just her thoughts.

"I can't believe I've messed up an already fragile friendship." – The blonde groaned out, her gaze pointed up at the empty ceiling. – "Not only that, but I've forever ruined any chances of a possible romantic relationship. Even worse yet, I cannot fix it. Akko probably doesn't even want to see me right now, and it's not like any of her close friends would let me anywhere near her after the incident anyway. "

 **"I can't believe I'd ever feel so helpless."**

 _ **Truly, 'twas a grim day for everyone.  
**_

* * *

 _Oh, my god, so much wangst! Honestly, all of it seemed much better in idea phase, but it seems like I horribly botched the execution. This chapter's probably going to be subjected to a full rewrite if needed to._

 _I guess that's what I get with decent ideas and no ability to execute them properly. I hope this chapter is at least partially possible to actually take seriously, because I feel like I messed up some moments big time._

 _It's going to be a (w)angst fest for the next couple chapters, that's as much as I can tell without spoiling it. So, without anything else to say, and eagerly waiting for Kap's return from his hiatus..._

 _Darky Out!_


	6. Chapter 5 - Emotionlessness and Concerns

_Aaaaand I'm back! After the mess that was Sukko week, I decided I might as well get back to my usual field of work._

 _This one was a little harder to write solely because I've had to get around to not one but two characters I, admittedly, don't know how to write I might have flunked it near the end. Seriously, I can't write anything seriously depressing for shit, I feel like I get too melodramatic for my own good if I do __

 _And yeah, sorry for the at-times-slow-pacing, while I'm at it._

* * *

 ** _Review responses!_** _Admittedly, I missed having to do these :P_

 ** _symbiotic:_** _Yeah, it's gonna stay angsty for a bit, sadly enough._ _  
_

 ** _GeminiAlchemist:_** _Glad that I managed to get an emotional response out of anyone with that chapter. Admittedly, I can't write angst for shit._

 ** _Fallen Spear:_** _Yeah, let's just say that in-story, that day did not go all that well, and leave it at that._

 _Anyway - onto the fic proper!_

* * *

The next day after the incident, even though Akko did attempt to continue on with her life like normal, she refused to communicate to anyone, not just Sucy or Diana.

Most of the time, the brunette was seen in what many could describe as an "empty" state, as a few of the more perceptive students could swear that the usual spark in the girl's eyes was absent, and the only expression she was wearing being a melancholic, indifferent look. The most communication she did with anyone was just responding with quiet nods and head shaking whenever her reply was needed.

The most she did throughout the day after the incident was just the more routine stuff, and as it was already state, she did not even bother to try and talk to any of her fellow students.

Naturally, both Diana and Sucy were unsettled by the whole situation, and while they knew they should have voiced their concerns about Akko's state to someone who can at least somewhat handle such situations, both girls also knew that they were almost directly responsible for the brunette's emotional state, and felt that maybe their help wasn't going to be much welcome.

When Akko didn't need to take care of any of her usual needs, she just stayed over at the Red Team dormitory, lying in her bed and not bothering to get up or talk to either of her roommates.

During the afternoon, as Diana walked through the halls back to her dormitory over from the library, she noticed that the relative quiet, which everyone usually considered completely normal due to most students spending their time outside on Sundays, felt unnaturally melancholic. The thoughts of how Akko almost never showed up throughout the day did nothing to alleviate Diana's state either.

Even after making her way back to the Blue Team dormitory, the blonde found herself unable to focus on the books she usually read, her mind constantly bringing up the details of the incident. The spell misfire, the angry and teary look on Akko's face, the cold remarks from her fellow students as they led Akko away…

Likewise, Sucy's usual extracurricular potion brewing did not seem to bring any joy to it, as her mind almost constantly wandered over to Akko's state. After all, she was doing everything all alone on that day, without much distraction from her thoughts. Without Akko to constantly peek over her shoulder to check what kind of potion Sucy was brewing, or to go through with semi-voluntary testing only to later laugh it off no matter how weird the side effects or even the main effects of the potion ended up being, the whole procedure just felt like it… Lost it's charm to Sucy.

It was little wonder that, when one of her main life passions wasn't bringing the violette any joy, her thoughts immediately wandered back to the incident, an overwhelming sense of guilt washing over her. She couldn't believe she was so busy fighting over the subject of her affections that she didn't even notice how much she hurt the aforementioned person. And even though she was certain that the misfire was Diana's fault, Sucy couldn't deny that, after all, she was the one to start throwing spells around first.

Most of the day went by in quite a bit of relative melancholy, to say the least.

None of it gotten any better when Akko downright refused to show up for the lessons the next day, on a relatively normal Monday. From Lotte's words, the brunette only barely gotten up from her bed, dismissively waved her hand as to sign Lotte and Sucy that they should go without her, and, as the ginger witch noticed before exiting the room, fell right back down into her bed, face-first into the pillow.

Some teachers didn't notice Atsuko's absence all that much. However, Professor Charistes/Du Nord did note it rather quickly when everyone arrived to her class.

"Does anyone know where is Miss Kagari currently at? She normally doesn't run late to any of my lessons. " – The red-haired woman asked, a note of concern in her voice.

And sure enough, after Lotte explained the situation, Ursula/Chariot added: "Well, then I do hope that she gets better if it's an illness that's bothering her. After all, she never misses my lessons, including the supplementary ones, unless it's something **serious**. "

And interestingly enough, the two teachers that didn't seem to have that much of a high opinion of Akko – partly because she usually barely made it with a passing grade through their respective subjects. – seemed to be at least the tiniest bit concerned.

"Miss Manbavaran, it seems that, as some of my colleagues noted, Miss Kagari didn't even show up on any of today's lessons. Is something troubling her, by any chance? Perhaps an unlucky experiment on your behalf?" – Lukic asked Sucy after approaching her, with a rather skeptical look.

"Not really… I don't want to discuss any details during a lesson, so I'll just leave it at saying that it was merely an accident." – Sucy remarked, trying to concentrate more on the potion she was busy working on at the moment.

After hearing the violette out, the elderly witch, in a somewhat raised voice, added: "That being said, whatever the accident was, it does seem to be affecting your performance in class. After classes, this same classroom. Don't be late."

And later on, on the Magical Linguistics lessons…

"Miss Cavendish, I see that you are not taking notes like usual. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you look concerned over something. Or someone. **Someone who is absent from class today.** " – Finnelan remarked as she approached Diana, who just mere moments ago was looking somewhere off into the distance, but certainly not at her textbook.

"My most sincere apologies, Professor. I was merely… Concerned over some personal matters, that is all." – The blonde responded, lowering her head in shame.

"Young lady, you know all too well that lying to your elders is bad manners." - The teacher remarked, with a noticeable note of disappointment in her voice. - "We'll have to discuss your underperformance, as well as Miss Kagari's absence, after class, Miss Cavendish, as it seems to me that you know something about why that lousy witch didn't attend any of today's lessons. "

* * *

"So, what exactly seems to be troubling one of my best students lately?" – Lukic asked as soon as the violette arrived not too long after that day's latest lesson, sitting down just across of the elderly witch after she entered the classroom.

"It's nothing you should be concerned about, Professor, I assure you." – Sucy replied, although her strangely ashamed tone of voice was a dead giveaway.

"Is it now? Your tone says otherwise, young lady. Was it something that happened between you and Akko? Is that why she didn't attend any of the lessons today?" – The elderly witch remarked, her voice shifting back over to a more sinister tone that many felt was certainly fitting of her, and certainly did the right impression whenever she needed to go through with a serious talk to one of her students.

"Well… It's a long story, really…"

And sure enough, Sucy explained the incident, not really dropping any details, but still, despite herself, managing to sound noticeably biased against Diana, slipping up a few times and calling the sole heiress a few rather uncivilized words. That is not to say that a hefty dose of self-loathing didn't slip through from the violette afterwards, however.

"I do see that you're getting rather… Emotional about the incident. Now please, calm down, try to hold back your emotions for at least a couple moments, and attempt to explain everything from a more objective viewpoint, will you? It is difficult to cooperate with a person when they let their emotions get the better of them. " – The professor responded to Sucy's explanation.

After a rather strained attempt at a more objective explanation courtesy of Sucy, Lukic had stopped the Filipino witch mid-sentence and remarked: "Well, all I can say is that, yes, it is equal parts yours and Miss Cavendish's fault."

"You're not helping me, Professor."

"And that, of course, means that it's likely that both of you will have to apologize to Akko later."

"Professor, please…"

"Don't worry, I'm getting to the reassuring part. I may not be an expert in relationships – that would be something you'd normally ask of my colleague Charistes, or, rather, Du Nord – but I do know that even after you do mend your friendship with Akko, you'll have to let her decide on her own just whom she wants to be…Romantically involved with."

After hearing the Professor out, Sucy sighed and remarked: "Alright, I'll try to at least make amends with Akko. But I'm apologizing entirely on my own behalf, as I'm not sure if Diana would want to cooperate even now, after all."

"Well, I guess I can only wish good luck to you, then. And don't forget to bring Miss Kagari the necessary homework, shall you? After all, she'll still have to catch up on what she's missed today." – The elderly professor replied as the violette left the classroom.

As for Sucy, she figured that there was no need to stall and decided to head right back over to the Red Team dormitory at once.

* * *

"Now, exactly what was troubling you so much during my lesson that you didn't concentrate on the material like you usually do, Miss Cavendish? And why was Miss Kagari absent from all the lessons today? Lousy student or not, at the very least she tries not to end up late on any lessons, including mine. "

As Diana was sitting over at the Magical Linguistics classroom just directly across of Finnelan, she didn't even want to talk about what was going on lately. Considering that the middle-aged teacher was a rather traditionalist person, and a homophobe at that, Diana simply didn't dare speak up about what problem exactly it was.

"That's the exact reason I'm worried." – The blonde finally gave out.

"Is that so? Considering that this girl gets into trouble quite often, you'd worry yourself sick even earlier if that was really the case." – Finnelan certainly didn't appreciate it when even a star student was outright lying to her face, or trying to hide the truth for that matter.

"It's because of a fight between me and Sucy that this happened to her, that's what is worrying me. Long story short…"

One explanation later, Diana was guiltily looking down as she finished speaking, not daring to look her teacher in the eyes after this.

"Uh-huh. And you do realize you'll have to fix everything on your own?"

"Exactly."

"And that you'll have to also attempt to make amends with Miss Manbavaran as well?"

"Yes, I- Wait, what?!" – Diana sounded almost baffled at that statement.

"Now listen to me. While I don't exactly know which one of you ended up hurting Miss Kagari, I do know that both you and Miss Manbavaran are at fault. Likely, both of you will have to apologize to Akko later on, perhaps both of you at once. But, even though I'm no psychologist, I'm fairly certain the situation's going to get worse if you two end up fighting in front of her again." – The professor explained. – "Not to mention that, for a star student, you're not giving the best example to your peers by getting into fights over another girl. Or over anyone, for that matter. "

"Fine. I'll… I'll try to do what I can." – Diana dejectedly replied.

"Not just "try", young lady, but do your best to accomplish the necessary results. You are dismissed for now."

As Diana went back over to the dormitories, just mere moments before opening the door to the Blue Team room, she hesitated for a bit before turning around and heading over to the Red Team dorm instead, hoping that both Lotte and Sucy are still away somewhere so that she could talk it out with Akko.

* * *

As Sucy reached for the door handle and was about to pull the door open, she noticed an all-too-bothersome blonde heading her way and grit her teeth in frustration.

"And what exactly are you doing here?" – Diana asked as soon as she approached Sucy.

"Since when did I need to answer to anyone who's not my roommate to enter my own dormitory room?" – The violette deadpanned. – "In fact, I should be asking you that same question. Doesn't the star student have some homework to ace through?"

"Before you start bickering all over again, I just have to say I was going to check up on Akko, that is all."

"Tough luck, Dirtbag-ish. She's not letting anyone near her since yesterday. Especially the likes of you, so-"

" **Stop!** Don't you realize we're getting into the same situation as that Saturday? If we won't stop our pointless bickering, at least for now, we might just leave our friendships with Akko in an irreparable state. Which is far from a desirable result." – While all of Diana's "speaking fancy" might have aggravated Sucy at least a bit, the only reaction the alchemist managed as an attempt to suppress her anger was just a groan of frustration in realization that the blonde was right.

After calming down for a bit, the violette replied: "In any case, she wasn't leaving her dormitory since this morning. So we still need to at least check up on her first. Although, I am a little worried…"

"About what exactly?" – Diana asked, a tiny note of anxiety in her voice.

"Well… Akko was rather thoroughly depressed yesterday. " – Sucy's voice also showed a genuine note of concern as she spoke. – "Who's to say she didn't… You know…"

"Sucy… You don't actually think that Akko could have…"

"This is something I **don't** want to think about, Diana. But the eerie quietness in the bedroom does leave me a tad suspicious. Who's to say we won't come in to find her overdosed on some poison, or hanging on a makeshift noose, or-"

" **Enough!** If we continue imagining one worse scenario after another, we won't get anywhere. We just have to check up on Akko. Please, Sucy, just open the door." – Diana remarked, trying to keep her tone quiet.

As the blonde stood right behind Sucy, the alchemist had reached over for the handle, and gently opened the door…

* * *

 _Cliffhanger! Dun-dun-duuuuuun!_

 _And sadly enough, this one's going to hang on for quite a while. Not because I'm going on any sort of hiatus, but because I'll be starting a new fic for this same fandom pretty soon. All I'm going to say is that it's going to be a crossover between Darkest Dungeon and Little Witch Academia. That's about as much as I can give away :P  
_

 _So, with that said..._

 _ **Darky Out!**_


	7. Chapter 6 - Forgiveness and Decisions

_Well, this university year promises to be a bit less hectic than the last. Hopefully I won't have particularly huge breaks between uploads._

 _With that out of the way, however, I sure am glad to be back to working on this, huh. Enough talk, let's get straight to-_

* * *

 _Come to think of it, I'm running out of original things to start out my "Review Responses" section on. Oh well, today's reviews are mostly from newcomers anyway._

 ** _JaviInkling:_** _Exactly what I was going for with that cliffhanger._

 ** _Wowpizza1:_** _But of course! That reference was the intention behind that particular cliffhanger. Although it might have just ruined the otherwise serious mood._

 _Onto the story proper, then!_

* * *

Honestly, neither Sucy nor Diana knew whether to be relieved with what they saw, or get even more concerned because of the current state of the girl they went to check up on.

Sure enough, there Akko was, sitting on her bed, resting her face on her knees and covering her face with her hands as she wept, if her quiet sobbing was of any indication.

Sucy felt her heart freeze at the sight. She had to admit, this wasn't the first time she saw Akko look so troubled. Not the first time she saw that witch being outright depressed and not the first time she saw that girl lose her usual cheerfulness. After all, back when Akko found out some rather unsettling details about her idol, about how she lost her magic back then, and found out that basically everything she knew was a lie, she had much of the same reaction.

But this time it was a more mundane matter. Something that didn't happen because of magical matters, but because of pure emotional strain over the recent days. Something that didn't happen from a single crushing blow and a strong, painful realization, but from repeated strain on an individual's mind, and the incessant stress that Akko had no rest from. From the constant stress of forcing herself on dates with both Sucy and Diana, to the emotional stress experienced whenever the two girls fought over her, and with it all culminating in how one particularly bad fight put Akko into a near-death situation – it all hit Akko in rapid succession, and the last detail was enough to make her snap yet again.

And yet right now, there the girl was, in the same dejected state as both Sucy and Diana found her in way back then. And this time, they felt like they would have a harder time consoling her, considering that they themselves were the reason for the brunette's depression.

Akko either didn't seem to notice either of the two witches, or she pretended to not notice them. Either way, the brunette continued quietly sobbing, not daring to say a word.

"We both have to speak to her, remember? Maybe she'll calm down if she sees that we can both talk it out with her in a more civil way, without any unnecessary bickering between one another." – Diana whispered to Sucy, to which the violette quietly nodded.

Neither girl attempted to announce their presence as they approached Akko. Then again, she probably caught on to the two more people present within the room by now. Sitting by either side from Akko, neither of the two girls even dared to say a single word – right now, the asian witch's emotional state was too fragile, and they were afraid to aggravate her even further.

However, as the silence, save for the sound of Akko's sobbing, was too much to bear, it wasn't long before both girls said almost in unison: "Akko, we need to talk this out."

Judging by the fact that Akko stopped sobbing momentarily, she was at least somewhat responsive at the moment. Her eyes still teary, the brunette moved her hands away from her face, and looked to both sides of her to see Sucy and Diana sitting just next to her, looking noticeably concerned for her… Only for her to sigh and cover her face with her hands again, although no sobbing could be heard. This time, however, no one was going to tolerate the tense silence within the room, and Diana was first to speak up:

"Akko, we sincerely apologize for the… Latest events, so to speak."

Sucy decided to chime in as well, and added: "In our constant fighting over you, neither of us even noticed that you were the one getting hurt by our constant bickering the most…"

"And as a result, we have ended up inadvertently hurting you, as a result of complete disregard for-"

"It's not your fault, guys…" – Akko replied in a somewhat tired-sounding voice, interrupting the girls' speech. – "I realized it now. It's all because of me. I'm an awful witch, a bad friend, and a worse girlfriend. I've been leading you two on, with you two expecting some sort of result from the whole thing, and… As a result, I was straining your patience too much. Not only that, I lashed out at you two for something that probably wasn't the fault of either of you. Honestly, ending up as a bloody splat on the ground would have served me right."

"Akko, don't say such things!" – Sucy suddenly shouted, startling both Diana and Akko. – "You weren't "leading either of us on"…"

"It was just that you were faced with a difficult decision, and with so much having had happened within the span of a couple months…"

"The stress was probably too much for you to bear. In your position, anyone would have snapped like this."

"But even then, it's still our fault."

"Diana, Sucy, please, you don't have to-" – Not that Akko got a chance to finish her sentence, as both girls continued on with their speech.

"It's not your fault, Akko." – Sucy remarked in her usual calm voice, having had placed her hand on the brunette's shoulder. – "If anything, it's not just because we got you hurt…"

"But because we completely disregarded you as a person, and in our constant bickering and fighting we forgot about that, in the end…"

"You weren't some sort of prize to compete for. Not some sort of reward to win over. For all of my sarcastic remarks and Diana's occasional insults, there's no denying that you are much better than you think you are. You are a well-natured person, a good friend, and a witch aspiring to be as good as her idol, even if said idol had their mistakes in life." – Sucy wasn't all that good at comforting speeches, but at the very least she tried.

"And frankly, our bickering and attempts to push you towards one choice in favor of the other were almost entirely pointless. After all…"

"It's up to you to decide which one of us you'd want to tolerate for beyond the academy years."

The words of encouragement, while not enough to calm Akko down completely, seemed to be at least somewhat enough to at least make the brunette a little less tense as she, with her eyes still teary, albeit now from joy, pulled both girls towards her into a group hug.

Right in time for Lotte to come back to the dorm room.

"Hey, Akko, sorry if I'm a little late, I had to- Oh." – The ginger almost quickly froze up in the doorway as she saw that Akko was hugging both Diana and Sucy. The latter just briefly turned away from Akko, and asked: "Later, Lotte. We're having a moment here."

"Sorry." – The witch quietly uttered as she left the room and closed the door. As soon as Akko released both girls, she remarked: "I'm glad we made up. Sorry for lashing out at you two back then."

"Already forgotten." – Diana replied.

"No big deal." – Sucy added.

"So… Now that we've solved this particular debacle, there's just… One problem bothering me." – Akko said as her gaze shifted from one girl to another a couple times, then added: "I, admittedly, still can't choose either one of you in favor of the other."

"It's alright, Akko. Whichever choice you make, you can't be wrong." – Diana replied, placing both her hands on Akko's, with Sucy soon doing the same.

"Whether you're into creepy weirdos like me, or stuck-ups like Diana, it's all up to you." – Sucy honestly wasn't the person for those mushy-lovely situations, so it was only natural that some of her phrases came out in a somewhat soured way.

Wiping her teary eyes, Akko replied: "Thank you, girls. But… I think I'll need some time to think everything over. And maybe get back into the usual flow of studying – after all, I don't have any legitimate excuse, unlike last year."

"Oh, no worries. We'll bring you the necessary homework as soon as possible." – Sucy remarked, getting up from the lower bunk that Akko lied on.

"And we'll try to make sure that the teachers won't be too harsh on you for skipping an entire work day." – Diana added as well.

"Speaking of which, didn't Lotte come by a couple moments ago?" – Akko asked, a little alarmed.

"She sure did. Right as we were in the middle of a group hug, too-" – Not that Sucy got to finish her sentence, as Akko zoomed right out of the room as quickly as she could… And crashed right into Lotte in a matter of a couple seconds.

While the brunette was busy chattering with Lotte and asking her about the homework given for the day, a slightly awkward silence persisted in the bedroom. Naturally, Diana was the first one to break it: "So… I suppose that this means that we're back on at least… Relatively neutral terms?"

"I suppose we are, Prissy."

"And no matter which one of us Akko chooses, we will react **maturely and responsibly** , correct?" – The blonde asked, prompting a groan from Sucy, who, after taking a few breaths to calm herself, remarked: "Like we already said – if she's into creeps like me, that's fine. If she's into sticks-in-the-mud like you, I suppose that's fine as well. Like I said earlier, It's all up to her. "

"I suppose this is my cue to leave, then." – Diana remarked, going on to exit the dormitory room, for the time being leaving Sucy with her own thoughts for the short time period that would pass before Akko would come running right back in to catch up on her homework.

* * *

Later, during the night, when almost everyone else was sleeping, it was now Akko's turn to be lost in thought, thinking over the potential decision she was going to make eventually.

"What should I do?" – Akko asked herself, just quiet enough not to wake Sucy or Lotte up. – "Even if they both react responsibly to it and I won't get on either one's bad side if I choose the other… Well, there's still the matter of choice and all the pros and cons of either girl. "

And thus, most of the time before Akko fell asleep was spent by her thinking over just that.

"I mean, Sucy has a rather odd look, but at the same time, it gives her some sort of air of mystery, and she sure is far from ugly, and for all her creepiness and thorny personality, she can be really nice when she tries…"

"And then there's Diana. She sure is pretty – I mean, that blonde hair and those blue eyes are the things that any guy or girl would fall for, no doubt! – and she is smart, not to mention quite eloquent…"

"Even though Sucy seems to have a rather odd choice of dating spots, she still makes it quite worthwhile, if only due to making sure that even something as simple as a broom ride around the countryside or an outing in the nearby forest would be at least memorable in it's own way. Just nice, secluded locations, out in the nature, not a soul for miles, only the two of us, either watching the sunset or taking in the sights from bird's flight height…"

"Then again, Diana has a preference for the more extravagant dates, and for all the crowdedness of the places we end up at, she still makes sure that the date is all about the two of us. For all the outright choking fanciness of all those cafes and restaurants we visited during our dating attempts, she sure knows how to pick a good dating spot. And she sure isn't afraid to spend some extra coin if it means improving the date further…"

Constantly weighing both ups and downs of each girl, trying to think of a proper decision, Akko finally came to a conclusion that she, admittedly, already came to long ago, but didn't consider it all that plausible back then.

"I guess I was wrong. I guess I really do "like-like" both of them after all. They each have good looks, charming personalities, and they both want me to be happy. Even if I won't upset either one of them up no matter the decision, I just… I don't want to have to choose between either of them." – Akko couldn't help but say the last sentence out loud, but not too loud as to not wake her roommates up.

" _ **If only I could be in a relationship with them both at the same time…**_ "

* * *

 _Oh silly Akko, not knowing about the concept of polyamorous relationships. Then again, considering how dense she is, that might just be in-character for her._

 _The only bad news for the beginning of the year is that I'm going to have to retake one of past year's exams. *embarrassed look* Yeah... Let's just say I didn't even get exam permission back then solely because of one flunked lab assignment that I had to do-over during finals month, and leave it at that._

 _So yeah, re-exam preparation ahoy for the remainder of the week. Then again, after I finally offload all the leftover work I had left, the rest of the year should go on without a hitch!.. Maybe._

 _So now, a little worried about the upcoming re-exam and playing a little too much Warframe whenever I'm not studying or writing..._

 ** _Darky Out!_**


	8. Chapter 7 - Advice and Favoritism

_You know what I sometimes borderline dislike about fanfiction-net's mechanics? It's definitely the fact that guests can't at the very least fave the fics they stumble upon. At least on AO3, I'd know that there is at least someone out there who gives a damn about my work other than the more "dedicated" followers._

 _Now, I think I ranted long enough, and probably drew the ire of the site administration while I'm at it, so I'd better shut up and get straight to the fic..._

* * *

 _Lack of reviews makes me sad.  
_

 ** _Kill My:_** _Thanks! (A one-liner response to a one-liner review.)_

* * *

The next few days, Akko was back to being her usual upbeat and cheerful self. Sure, she had some schoolwork to catch up on, but it was nothing too difficult. And besides, she didn't seem to care about **that** particular issue, for a certain question still hung over her like a storm cloud.

 **What now?**

Akko still had a quite difficult decision ahead of her, and even though she knew that she won't upset one girl if she chose the other, that still didn't stop her from wondering how that decision would affect **her.  
**

Of course, the first question she asked herself in her situation was "What would Chariot do?" It was basically the go-to question for her in any difficult situation. She still had faith in her idol, and she still followed her beliefs, so it was natural for her to think just what the former stage magician would do in the same predicament that Akko would find herself in.

Unfortunately, this was one of those situations where that question boiled down to the usual "Guess I'll ask her in person" answer. And so, after that day's lessons, Akko immediately headed over to Professor Du Nord's office.

"Well hello there, Akko. I'm glad to see that things are doing better for you now." – The red-haired teacher remarked as Akko entered her office.

"Greetings, miss Du Nord." – The brunette replied back, sitting down on to the chair just across from Chariot.

"So what brings you to my office today? You don't seem to be struggling nearly as much with your studies as…Ahem…Last year…" – By Yggdrassil, she really hated bringing last year's events up. It always ended up making her feel incredibly guilty for accidentally robbing Akko of her magic. Oh well, at least her student did get better after all.

As Akko sat down on the chair across from where the redhead professor was, she answered: "Well… Let's just say I've had a typical "what would Chariot do?" question, and my answer ended up being…"

"To consult me straight up." – Professor Du Nord interrupted in her usual calm tone, with Akko nodding in response. – "I'd rarely expect anyone to come to **me** of all people for life advice, but I guess I can help. So what's troubling you?"

"Well… A certain, erm… Dilemma, if I chose the word right." – The brunette remarked, shyly tapping her finger against the desk. – "It's about, uh… Matters of the heart, so to speak."

"Oh my… Well, I'm sure you shouldn't worry about that – all of the students here are rather open-minded, and the teachers – well, sure, while Finnelan might have some problems with your attraction to any of your fellow students, everyone else might be largely indifferent, so-"

"It's not… Exactly, that, Miss Du Nord. " – Akko remarked, blushing. – "I mean, I'm more than okay about the whole "feelings towards other girls" thing of mine, so I'm not worried about that exactly. It's rather about… Having to choose between two different candidates."

"Miss Manbavaran and Miss Cavendish, correct?" – Before Akko could ask the stupid question of how the professor knew about the whole debacle, she added: "Well, they were heavily concerned about you lately, not to mention that, a few weeks ago, they would often end up in verbal fights. They did seem to calm down recently, however, so…"

"Well, my problem comes from the fact that, even if I won't upset either one of them by choosing the other… I just… I can't decide which one of them I really, **really** wish to be with." – The brunette replied, groaning as she finished the last sentence.

"Well…" – Chariot never really faced a one-girl-or-another dilemma. Sure, her heart was going out entirely for Croix in her time, and her only dilemma in that regard was between her duty as the then-wielder of the Shiny Rod and her relationship. Suffice to say, things went awry back then, and had solid repercussions in the future. But Akko's case was still something close – a decision between two different future outcomes. Except instead of deciding just between the future of one individual and the entire world, it was just a decision between one's different possible futures. And despite the fact that she knew Diana better than Sucy, she didn't want to give Akko any particularly biased advice so as to not mess the girl's future up, however, so she decided to take a more neutral route:

"I'd say it's not so much about what you feel about Diana or Sucy in the present, but rather, what kind of future you envision with either one."

"Well, that's a difficult one… If the fact that my Divination and Fortune Telling grades are barely in passing territory is of any indication, I can't see all that far into the future." – Akko replied, seemingly missing the point.

"It's not really like that, Akko. It's not about the kind of future one can see gazing into a crystal ball… But rather, the kind of future you yourself envision with a particular person. I'd also add in the usual "follow your heart and you can't be wrong" advice, but I'm sure you've heard that one before." – Ursula remarked, trying to slightly alleviate the tension in the office.

"Hmm… I still don't really know which one of them I really want to be with, but thanks for the advice anyway, Ms. Du Nord. I'll think it over for the time being." – The younger witch replied as she went to exit the Professor's office.

"Good luck with your endeavors then, Akko. " – The red-headed professor said just before Akko slammed the door shut.

* * *

"So what do ya guys think about the whole situation now?"

Later that day, all students from the Red, Blue and Green teams – excluding Sucy, Diana, and Akko – had gathered up at the Green Team dormitory. It seems that the odd trio's shared bedroom ended up a meeting spot of sorts over the recent days. And the main subject of those meetings being, of course, the love triangle ensuing within the walls of the Academy.

"As in?" – Hannah asked, a little confused with Amanda's question.

"As in, whose side everyone's taking, of course." – The redhead responded, eliciting a groan from the "other" redhead and a facepalm. – "Me personally, I guess I'm staying neutral to the whole thing. And while my opinions on the candidates may make one think I'm more towards Sucy than Diana, I don't really feel like taking sides in any of this."

"Yeah, I second that." – Hannah remarked, still none too happy with the situation going on. – "If anything, my study years had enough drama going on in them without any love triangles going on around me."

"Not to mention that your and Barbera's relationship is the only one you really care about, _**da**_?" – Jasminka chimed in, having a momentary break from her usual chowing down on snacks.

"Well, not in such a rough way of putting it. It's more like I don't want either of us to get dragged into the whole thing, you know?" – Hannah responded, with a noticeable defensive tone in her speech.

"Alright, alright, we get it." – Amanda said, then looked over at the others in the room – Barbera and Lotte chattering over some sort of limited edition Nightfall book – presumably about the legitimacy of the autograph on the title page – Constanze was fiddling around with some magically enhanced kitchen appliance, and Jasminka having had gone back to munching on some snacks. – "So, anyone else have any opinions on the whole thing?"

After a bit of questioning, it turned out that, while Lotte and Constanze seemingly wanted Sucy to be the one to end up with Akko, Barbera and Jasminka were more on the "Dianakko" side of things. Each of them giving their own reasons – mainly, Lotte's reasons were that Sucy was a sort of "first girl" to Akko, and that the "opposites attract" types of pairings are kind of her weakness. Constanze didn't have much of an argument to back up her opinion on the matter , so she resorted to merely agreeing with the points the ginger girl brought up. Meanwhile, Barbera's reasoning was that the two girls spent a whole lot more time with one another, and Jasminka added that, for all of Sucy's claims about her feelings towards Akko, it was undeniable that Diana made the first move before Sucy did.

And so the atmosphere in the room began to tense up. It was not the spiteful kind of tension, far from it – rather, it was more about a fairly typical friendly argument.

"Well, I personally think that Sucy is just that kind of person who just needs a proper stimuli to open up. And who else would be that stimuli other than Akko anyway?" – Lotte remarked.

"And yet you can't deny that there were a lot more "couple moments" between Diana and Akko. Holding hands, accidental love confessions, and even Akko going to basically the other end of the country to bring Diana back to the academy. If that isn't dedication, I don't know what is!" – Oh, it was certainly one of the very few times that Barbara decided to disagree with her close friend.

"Not to mention that, even though I know this is a minor nitpick, but as much as I don't like either couple name, I have to admit that Diakko – or Dianakko, if you will – actually feels a little easier on the ears. I can't pronounce "Sukko" without immediately associating it with a certain swear word from my mother language. " – Jasminka said, adding her two cents to the conversation. Or two rubles, if you will.

"For all their couple moments and nice-sounding couple name, I still can't see either of them lasting beyond the gates of Luna Nova. So, I guess Diana loses out by virtue of being a rather problematic match. It just doesn't feel right – the most I can see these two is as friendly rivals. The absolute most would be…" – For a moment, the suddenly-vocal Constanze went as silent as she usually was, blushing profusely, before finally spitting it out: "…friends with benefits…"

Cue the groan from just about everyone, from both sides and from those who preferred to stay neutral. Trying to shift back towards a more comfortable topic, Lotte added: "And for all we know, Diana's not one about romantic endeavors. Neither is Sucy, really, but I'm just getting that slight feeling that Diana might have it easier to move on from her crush on Akko if Sucy ended up as the "winner", so to speak."

"Well, either way, no matter whether we all come to an agreement on a certain option or not, one thing's for certain: It's up to Akko to decide whom she really "has a thing" for, y'know?" – Amanda remarked after the debate quieted down for the time being.

"Yeah, not to mention it's near curfew and we can't talk it out much longer. Let's just conclude it on the fact that none of us have any rights to make any decision for Akko, and leave it at that. Whomever she feels like being with, we're not gonna judge her." – Hannah added as she and Barbera went over to leave the room. Lotte looked over at the clock within the bedroom and figured she might as well head back to her dorm. So now, the only ones remaining within the Green Team dorm were, obviously, members of the Green Team themselves.

"Alright everyone, we've got a hella hectic day coming up tomorrow, so we'd all better get some sleep." – As if Amanda's words were a cue to it, Constanze pressed a few buttons on her wand-turned-remote, and the lamps within the dormitory room slowly dimmed out.

As everyone went over to their beds, however, Constanze couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

For there was another reason why she took up the "Suakko" side of the debate.  
 _ **  
One that she didn't dare to voice.**_

* * *

 _Whew. Honestly, I'm beginning to feel like this fic is overstaying it's welcome - whereas with the Witchborn I know for certain how many chapters there might be, here I kind of felt that, with the main conflict already past, all that's left is for Akko to decide whomever the Hek she wants to be , admittedly, won't happen until the ending. Which is a few chapters away anyway, so I won't spoil it.  
_

 _Also, that Constanze moment... Well, let's just say that it's a bit of a "rarepair tease", and leave it at that._

 _With that said, and nothing else to add..._

 _Darky Out!_


	9. Chapter 8 - Polaroids and Choices

_Welp, it's the beginning of the end, bois. Now that I think of it, I'm kinda sad that this fic turned out so short. A bit too short for my liking, if you will. But, eh, you can only do so much with a plot driven entirely by a love triangle. It's not yet the conclusion, but we're definitely close to it._

* * *

 _I'm a moron and I forgot about **review responses.**_

 ** _forsagia:_** _Why thank you! Yeah, the main reason I like Sucy X Akko instead of Diana X Akko is much of the same - I like Sucy as a character more, and, well, Episode 8 was basically my introduction to the series, so there's that, too._

 ** _1Fanfanatick:_** _What can I say... I tried my best. By the way, I'm currently in the middle of working on another, more AU-ish story for the time being. The prologue is already up on both AO3 and here, so go check it out!_

* * *

It was a quiet November afternoon. Considering that it was a typical Friday, just about everyone was off somewhere else after the lessons were over, busy with their own business. Some students were practicing spells, some were going out for a broom ride since the weather was clear, and some decided to stay back within the walls of the academy.

Akko, however, was currently quite a fair distance away from the Academy – the most she told others was that she needed to be alone, and some time to think over a particular decision. Of course, considering the latest events, just about everyone knew what it was all about, but none decided to pry at the matter, leaving Akko be.

So there the brunette was, standing at the all-too-familiar cobblestone bridge and looking down into the flowing water. It was no doubt just what question was tormenting her for the time being. Even despite all the advice from her peers and her favorite teacher alike, even despite all that happened… She still couldn't decide which one of the candidates she wanted to be with.

Diana was beautiful, but so was Sucy – both in their own, unique way. They both seemed unapproachable at first, but actually turned out to have a soft side to their personalities once Akko got to know them better. And they both had quite a bit of issues that, at the very least, earned the two quite a bit of "sympathy points", so to speak – Sucy had equal parts trust issues and abandonment issues, while Diana's social skills were limited to the high-class, having trouble interacting with the "common folk", as one could say it, and she always seemed to restrain herself in her endeavors. And yet, even despite what happened lately, even despite the recent incident… Neither Sucy nor Diana left Akko, they were both genuinely worried about her, and they were both more than glad to let her decide just whom she wanted to be with… And yet the asian witch just couldn't bring herself to a possible decision.

Hold on a moment. All of what she was thinking over… It was all about the **present.** But what there was to her **future** with either of the candidates?

First, her thoughts turned over to Sucy. The violette, for all her pranks and sarcastic personality, was actually quite a dependable and responsible person, and for all her strangeness, she certainly cared about more than just her hobby and odd tastes. She also mentioned a few times about wanting to open an entire alchemy shop of her own after she graduated, so financial issues were certainly out of the picture, as she heard enough about such small businesses being surprisingly profitable. Besides, Akko wanted to make sure that Sucy would eventually break out of the figurative shell she was stuck in, and a romantic relationship was certainly the right first step.

Then she thought back to Diana. She was certainly an equal part nice and responsible person, and she certainly seemed to be the type to be quite concerned with her family's well-being. Not to mention that, with Diana being part of a rich and influential family, a future without having to worry about any financial issues was borderline assured. As for her social issues – well, she felt like she could be able to fix that, even if it would take time and effort to do so.

Then, however, came the negatives.

Akko would probably end up subjected to Sucy's experiments quite a bit more often if she were to choose the alchemist as her eventual spouse, that is for sure. And she'd probably have no right to protest against the aforementioned potion experiments, too. At the very least, the violette would care about her enough not to kill her or do something even worse.

But then again, she'd rather drink near-lethal poisons and disgusting potions every day than have to deal with Diana's rather, uh, stuck-up relatives at least once a year. Wow, and here she thought only the guys from hetero couples had the whole "in-laws" issue… Sure, the blonde's aunt and cousins wouldn't technically be "in-laws", but they still fit the bill for "those relatives you wish you'd never have to meet ever again". By Yggdrassil, was she glad that Diana was so different from the rest of her family…

Okay, maybe she shouldn't think **too** far into the future, then.

So Akko thought back to her dates with both girls. Well, she couldn't deny it, they both made absolute sure to leave her feeling satisfied after each date, that was for sure, even if she ended up feeling rather exhausted from at least a week of nonstop dating. What would her relationships **still within the Academy gates** would be like with either of them, then?

Dates, constant romantic involvement, perhaps even… She couldn't help but blush at some rather unsavory thoughts she had about both girls. They… They each certainly had quite nice bodies, Akko thought. She still didn't know how "experienced" the two witches were, but it's not like it mattered to her right now.

The thing was, she wanted them both. She just didn't know how was it that a person can't date more than one other person at once. After all, if she has enough love to go by, and if she's willing to invest her time with both girls equally, why should she bother with choices, right?

And yet… She still had to go through with it by the supposed "right way".

Sighing, Akko procured two small polaroid photographs from her pockets, one of each candidate. It didn't take much to convince Wangari to lend her copies of the photos of two particular students.

Sucy was noticeably slouched over in her photograph, and had her typical gloomy expression. Meanwhile, Diana's photo showed her standing – or sitting, she didn't really know – up straight, looking straight forward with a neutral expression. To anyone else, these were just that, almost meaningless photos, but to Akko, what she was about to do to one of these photos was something like a reflection of her choice. She needed some physical way to reaffirm her decision, even if she wasn't nearly so superstitious normally.

As she looked over at the photographs, holding one in each hand, she sighed dejectedly.

 _ **"What should I do?"**_

* * *

 _Aaaaaand this is where it gets interesting! You see, I don't really want to seem too biased towards one or the other candidate myself - for all the things I've said about the Diakko half of the fandom, I have to admit that they're the ones keeping this fandom alive in the first place after all.  
_

 _Sooo... Let's just say there will be multiple endings to this fic. The first two are obvious, but I'm also going to go for a third one that I was honestly building up to like no tomorrow._

 _So, leaving you with quite a bit of anticipation (or probably not)..._

 ** _Darky_ _Out!_**


	10. Ending A - Sapphires and Rubies

_Figured I might as well get my least favorite ending out of the way first. Once again, I mentioned several times over how much gripes i have with the Diakko pairing in general, but I figured I might try to be unbiased once in a while. Then again, just to keep both sides of the debacle satisfied, this won't be the only ending - there's also going to be a Sukko ending, and one more that I was constantly building up to._

 _Anyway... Let's get this over with._

* * *

"Whew, that's a hectic way to start a week off, ain't it?"

A few days passed since the day of decision. It was a typical, quiet Monday, and it didn't seem like anything unusual was going on just yet. No bickering between students, no girls to get out of depression… In short, the events of the last few months felt like little more than a silly, tame nightmare.

At the very least, the events resolved themselves in a way that was pleasing for everyone.

"Hey, Akko. I know it's a bit too early to ask, but… Where are you going for the winter holidays?" – Lotte asked as she, Sucy, and Akko left the class, with Diana just close by.

"Well, previously I'd go back over to my folks' place, and although this year I wanted to stay back at the Academy…" – Akko looked behind herself and noticed that Diana was quite close by, so she pulled her into a half-hug and remarked: "I think I'll stay over at Diana's place for the holidays instead!"

"So the little indecisive witch finally decided whom her heart belongs to, huh?" – Amanda remarked, just a few steps away from the group.

"Figured as much." – Sucy deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

"Eh, I suppose you two **do** look kinda cute together after all." – Lotte added.

"There is certainly more to it than that, of course. And if we really are going to be romantically involved, I've got to get her better acquainted with my family. Not to mention I've… Eh… Got a coming-out to go through." – Diana blushed and scratched the back of her head shyly as she said that.

"Hope your surviving family doesn't disown you." – Sucy remarked, giving out her usual smirk. Lotte gave out a quiet: "Sucy, rude" in response, which was responded to with a shrug and a borderline trademark shroom-eating grin.

"Anyway… Didn't you need any help with your homework today, Akko?" – Diana asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Well, I mostly have Lotte help me out with that, actually. But for now, I think I'll be off for a practice flight. The weather today is clear enough, so I guess it would be neat to get out and take a broom for a few loop-arounds. Afterwards, guess I'll get back to the proper studying. " – Akko replied, running off together with Lotte. As the rest of the students left the classroom and headed for the dormitories, only Sucy and Diana seemed to lag behind in the corridor a bit.

"So…" – Diana spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence that persisted through the corridor now that she and Sucy were left relatively alone. – "I suppose we really are back on friendly terms from now on?"

Strangely enough, Sucy replied with a quiet smirk and added: "Close enough."

"And I sincerely apologize for what you had to go through over the past few months. Also… I know you wanted to be with Akko, but… I suppose she made her choice, and…" – Before the blonde could finish her speech, the Filipino witch groaned and remarked: "Yes, yes, I understand that. And you know what? That's perfectly fine with me. After all, you know what they say – if you love someone, let them go. They go back to you – good. They don't – whatever, just hope they're happy."

"Wow… That's… Surprisingly mature of you, Sucy." – Diana remarked as they continued through the corridor. A few inches in, however, when no one was around, Sucy slammed Diana against the wall by her shoulders.

"W-what is that all about?!" – The brit asked, equal times baffled, confused and scared. As Sucy kept on holding her against the wall, she was positioned in such a way that her hair was covering her eyes near-completely. As she looked back up at Diana, her sole visible eye's pupil appeared shrunken to near-dot size, and she spoke up in her usual cold, menacing tone:

"I do, however, want to clarify one simple thing. I really count on you to make her genuinely happy, and never have her regret her decision. Not the tiniest bit. So if you hurt her, make her cry, or, Nine forbid, end up leaving her a depressed wreck with a particularly bad breakup – and you better put up with her, since you yourself decided to enter a romantic relationship with that little idiot… Well, you'd better start checking your food and drinks for poison if you do, Cavendish. Because if you hurt Akko in any way… I won't kill you… **But I will make you wish I did.** " – As Sucy let go of Diana, she backed off a bit before shouting:" **Understood?!** "

The blonde was looking scared witless as the alchemist shouted at her, and all she could utter was a feeble "Yes."

"Good for you." – Sucy remarked in her more usual tone. – "See ya later, then."

As Diana took some time to recollect herself, she realized something.

 **Sucy had the single weirdest reason for a fate-worse-than-death threat.**

* * *

 _Welp, this is the closest you'll get to a Diakko work from me :p  
_

 _Man, I feel like I really rushed this particular ending, though._


	11. Ending B - Mushrooms and Plums

_And now for a bit of author appeal, with the ending containing the couple that I very obviously have a thing for. What can I say? I can't help it. I'm a sucker for the whole "the gloomy and the cheerful" character dynamic._

* * *

"Ugh, only Monday has passed, and I'm already beat!"

A few days passed since Akko's decision. It was a fairly ordinary, quiet Monday, with everything seeming to have settled down. The two students that caused the most of a stir during the first half of the second year were finally quiet and no longer bickered at every opportunity. And despite all that happened over the last few months, it now felt like little more than a distant nightmare.

Besides, it appeared that the conflict really was resolved once and for all…

"Hey, cheer up now, Akko. If you want to, I'd make it up to you with a date over at our favorite spot after you're done with your homework for the day." – Sucy remarked, giving the brunette a light side hug.

Diana was just a few seats away, and the most response she had to the duo's shenanigans was an exasperated: "At the very least, try to refrain from any public displays of affection. I know that you two are now an official couple, but you don't have to-"

"Rub it in the unlucky one's face?" – Sucy remarked, giving out her usual shroom-eating grin, but was quickly silenced by an elbow jab from Akko.

"No. What I meant to say is, you don't have to go so deep into the "new couple syndrome". A bit of extra subtlety never hurt a romantic relationship." – The blonde calmly explained.

Lotte decided that the conversation was beginning to go a little off the rails and figured she'd change the subject: "So, Akko, where do you think you'll go for the winter holidays?"

"Well, I was planning to spend it over at your place, but I felt like I should introduce Sucy to my folks, so I guess it's a trip all the way back to Japan, and Sucy's going with me!" – This time, it was Akko's turn to press Sucy closer to herself.

"I do hope your parents are open-minded enough." – Sucy remarked, a slight note of doubt in her voice.

"Nah, they should be fine with that, I'm totally sure of it! After all, they know all too well about some of my crushes way back in middle school." – With that last sentence, Akko scratched the back of her head with her free hand and smiled shyly.

"TMI, Akko. Nobody wants to hear about your past endeavors. Besides, don't you and Lotte have a study session to go through?" – Diana's attempts to ditch Akko for the time being seemed to have worked, as Akko immediately yelped something along the lines of "OhsweetKamiItotallyforgotLottehurryup" and dragged the ginger girl along with her. As everyone but Diana and Sucy left the classroom by then, the violette looked over at the brit and stated in a matter-of-fact tone: "You ditched her for a reason, didn't you."

"Yes, well… I know you've probably heard a dozen apologies from me already, but… I guess I'd add another one on top of all that. I really let my feelings for Akko get the better of me back then, to the point where we almost ended up losing her forever. And while I'm at it… I'm sorry about the insensitive things I've said about your family situation. Once again, when one's momentary impulses take over them, it ends up in-" – Diana didn't get to finish her speech, as Sucy just groaned and replied: "Apology accepted, Cavendish. I might be one spiteful witch, but I know how to forgive at the very least."

"So… Does this mean we're back on… Relatively friendly terms?" – Diana asked, sounding a tiny bit hopeful, but subdued.

"We never were on friendly terms, but I suppose we might start to be from now on." – The violette shrugged as she said that. When Diana went on to leave the classroom, however, she added: "Although, there is one thing I need to make clear."

As the blonde turned around, slightly confused, she was met face-to-face with Sucy, who currently gave her what could be the mother of all death glares, with her sole visible eye's iris shrunken down to the size of a dot.

"You know all too well how possessive I can get. And that means that if you try anything funny with Akko… You'd better start checking everything you eat or drink, Cavendish. I won't kill you, but I'll make you wish I did." – And as she finished the last sentence, she shouted out: " **Am I making myself clear, blondie?!** "

Looking scared out of her wits, Diana could only utter a feeble "Yes" in response.

"Good for you. Now, I think you yourself have some studying to get back to, don't you?"

Nodding quietly, the blonde turned around and left the classroom. After a few moments, making sure the blonde was far enough, Sucy decided she might as well head back to the Red Team dorm as well, although on the way there, her mind was certainly not focused on studying…

 **After all, one of her inner selves made absolute sure of it.  
**

* * *

 _Okay, guilty. I have to admit - I wanted to put a small Dianstanze bit into this particular ending, buuuuuut decided against it. Okay, admittedly, I rushed this particular ending just as much as the Diakko ending._

 _But it ain't over yet - I'm certainly going to go for a third, special ending. And I'm certainly not going to rush that one!_

 ** _Darky Out!_**

 ** _...For now._**


	12. Ending C - Notes and Kisses

_Whew. It's finally done. The main ending to this story is finally done. Maybe I'm going to write some sort of spin-off one-shot collection going off of this particular ending later, too._

 _In any case, onto the ending!_

* * *

As Akko looked over both photographs, she soon realized something.

Or rather, she reaffirmed one fact that she already established to herself.

She loved both Sucy and Diana. Sucy had that distinct charm to her, was an interesting person to hang out with, and was overall the coolest possible girlfriend she could ever have. Meanwhile, Diana was all classy and pretty, was basically the single smartest student in the entire academy, and was probably one of the best witches Akko ever knew.

Even though Akko honestly felt like she didn't deserve either of them, both candidates already insisted on the opposite several times over.

Stashing both photographs back into her pockets, she clenched her fists, slammed them against the bridge railing, and remarked: "If they both really love me, then I just have to try my best to make them both happy. And I won't give up so easily!"

* * *

A few days later, on a particularly hectic Monday, while everyone else was busy running back to the dormitories, Akko slid both Sucy and Diana each a hastily scribbled handwritten note.

"Meet me at that one little bridge. I think I've made my decision. Akko ;P" – Was the content of both notes. What was written on the back of either note, however, did not seem to make either girl comfortable:

"P.S. I'm not really going to be alone over there, though. I'll explain when you get there! ^o^"

Diana and Sucy first shot a confused glare at one another, then back at the notes, then over at Akko, who just groaned and remarked: "Ugh, come on girls, just go meet up with me there! Both of you!"

"Why would you need us both to be there?" – Sucy asked, still confused.

"I guess she just doesn't want to make any decisions behind either of our backs, and decided to be more forward with her choice." – Diana remarked, this being the only logical explanation she could think of at the time.

When Akko ended up losing her patience with the two girls, she just dragged them both by their hands through the corridors, to the academy gates, and finally to that one bridge.

A few questions were given on the way there, like "Why are you taking us there?", "What is that all about?" and other questions that were given a single off-handed answer – "You'll see soon!"

Finally, as the trio arrived at the bridge, Sucy was the first to speak up: "Okay, seriously, Akko, what was that all about? Why couldn't you just tell which one of us you chose and go on with it?"

"Yes, all of this is rather… Confusing, to say the least. I know you're not one to look for an easy way to handle such matters, but…" – Diana was still quite astonished by the situation.

"Okay, okay, in a moment, but… Please, just get a little closer to me? Like, both of you, so that we're in hug range, you know?"

What's with the odd specifics? Even despite that, both girls quietly complied, and when they did…

Akko embraced both Sucy and Diana, pulling them close to herself, much to their odd confusion.

"The truth is, I love ya both!" – Akko said as she looked up at the two girls on the receiving end of her hug.

"Akko, I don't really get it." – Sucy remarked, looking a bit off to the side.

"Neither do I, to be honest…" – Diana added, her gaze also diverted elsewhere.

"Ugh, come on, you guys! It honestly feels like you're the dummies here right now and not me! I mean, as in I really love-love you both! Like, I can't just choose one of you, so I decided – why should I bother choosing in the first palce?" – The brunette shouted impatiently at the duo.

"Hold on… You mean you want to start a polyamorous relationship with us?" – Diana asked.

"Poly- Wha?"

"She means a relationship where more than two people are involved, you dummy." – Sucy remarked, although her tone sounded… A bit less exasperated than usual.

"Yeah, that! I mean, you can put up with one another for me, right? Riiight?" – After the brunette asked that, her expression was the usual expectant grin that she had whenever she asked Ursula some uncomfortable question about either her past as Chariot or about Croix, and the professor hesitated with her answer.

After a few moments and a few double-take glares – between Sucy and Diana, then back at Akko, then somewhere off to the side, then back at Akko – it was Sucy who spoke up first: "Well, as difficult as it may be… I guess I can put up with miss Stick-Up-Hers if it's for your sake, Akko."

"And I suppose I can try to forget about my gripes with Miss Manbavaran over here as well, even if I'm not exactly a fan of the "do it for someone else's sake" reasoning." – Diana added.

"Ohmigosh, thank you-thank you-thank you!" – The asian witch shouted out excitedly as she tightened her hug on both girls she was currently holding in an embrace, although a groan of pain from both of them was enough to calm her down. – "Oh, sorry about that."

"Anyway, now that this is all said and done…What about the first kiss? Who gets the honor?" – Sucy asked, not exactly sure what to do in such a situation – after all, she didn't even have any theoretical knowledge on three-way relationships, let alone the, uh, practical side of it…

"Hmm… Oh!" – Akko immediately pulled the duo even closer to her so that they were inches away from close contact and remarked: "Just, uh, try to make it as if you two are, like, kissing me on the lips both at the same time?"

"I don't want to taste mushrooms during a kiss, thanks." – Diana remarked dryly.

"I don't even want to know what I'm going to taste with **you** involved in the kiss, Prissy." – Sucy deadpanned in response.

"Oh, just can it already, you two!" – The asian witch shouted out, and pulled them both into a sort-of-kiss.

It was weird, to say the least. It felt unusual for both Diana and Sucy to end up on the receiving end of a kiss from someone else, especially both at once. And yet, somehow, that odd sweet taste of Akko's lips was way too satisfying for either of them to bail out…

An odd mix of tastes persisted in Akko's mouth as she finished the kiss and pulled away from both girls.

"Well, that was sloppy…" – Sucy remarked, wiping her lips with her sleeve.

Diana decided to be a bit more sophisticated on the matter, and procured a handkerchief from her pocket instead. After wiping her lips as well, she added: "I think you almost bit both mine and Akko's tongue, too."

"Well, that didn't quite work out, I guess…" – Akko shyly scratched the back of her head. – "Buuut, that still technically counts as you both getting my first kiss?"

"You could have just went with a consecutive kiss, you know." – Sucy remarked, to which Diana responded by taking her wand out and conjuring a small coin-like object. It wasn't so much a coin as just an odd circular piece of unknown metal with two differently colored sides – the greenish-yellow side presumably represented Diana, while the opposite, mauve side was representing Sucy. As the blonde handed Akko the odd object, the brunette immediately tossed it as high up as she could… Only for it to bonk her on the head.

"Oww…" – As the asian witch rubbed her forehead and went to pick up the coin-like object, she saw that it landed the mauve side up. – "Welp, Sucy gets first dibs."

"Guess you're not done with tasting mushrooms today just yet." – Sucy remarked, shrugging, while the blonde just groaned and retorted: "I think I'll just have to get used to it. Besides, you were probably going to be tasting herbal tea if I were to end up as the first kisser instead. I suppose this means we're both going to have some occasional complications. Guess it's not just trust issues that often make polyamorous relationships difficult. "

Not that Sucy really bothered to listen to the other witch's words, as she went on with her individual kiss with Akko. And it certainly felt a lot better to not have to struggle to avoid any foreign tastes, too. But it wasn't the taste she was going for, surely – she made sure that every single second of the kiss is at least a tiny bit more sensual than the sloppy first attempt at kissing, making sure to slip her tongue in at least a tiny bit more, and keep in close contact with Akko. And during the last few moments, Sucy even lightly sucked on the brunette's lower lip before breaking the kiss with an odd sound.

And honestly, Diana certainly felt a lot less tense the moment Sucy let go of the lucky kissee and told her: "Alright, your turn, blondie."

As Diana approached Akko, she figured she'd better not rush things too much, and thus her kiss was a tad more subdued – no tongue involved, no lip-sucking, no nothing. And just as she suspected, there was a lingering taste of mushrooms on Akko's lips, but it was a lot less noticeable than during the threeway kiss, to the point where she just forgot all about it.

"Come on now, make that kiss count! A simple peck just won't do for, heh, **our** girlfriend, you know." – As if to emphasize her point and to signal her to act more openly, Sucy pushed Diana a little closer to Akko. The sole heiress figured she might as well follow along and deepened the kiss, not being nearly as hesitant as she was moments ago.

As Diana let go of Akko a few moments later, however, she was borderline panting and even more red in the face than usual.

"Wow… You guys are both quite the great kissers, did you know that? Not too bad for your first times, you know…" – Akko replied, panting as Diana let go of her.

"Okay, maybe you overdid it. Seems to me someone's lung capacity isn't doing them any favors." – Sucy snarked, finishing her sentence off with her typical smirk. – "Also, there's just one more thing I wanted to do…"

And as to emphasize her point, Sucy approached Akko and bit her lightly on the right side of her neck – not enough to draw blood, but more than enough to leave a noticeable bite mark, eliciting a quiet "Oww…" from the Japanese witch. As the violette let go of the successfully "marked" girl and turned to face the slightly weirded out Diana, she explained: "Consider it a formality of sorts. I wanted to mark her as my own previously, but since we're sharing, you can go for it as well. No need to bite, just a kiss on the left side of her neck should do."

"You are one wicked Creep." – The brit responded as she conjured a light blue lipstick and went to apply it.

"Tell me something new, Prissy." – The alchemist cackled as she finished that sentence.

After Diana was done applying the lipstick, she immediately went on to plant a soft, gentle kiss on the left, untouched side of Akko's neck – not too drawn out, but just enough to leave a kiss mark.

"Thanks, guys, I think I now have a legitimate reason to wear a turtleneck sweater this winter." – Akko joked as she rubbed the places of both marks. Interestingly enough, neither Sucy's fang marks nor Diana's lipstick seemed to fade from her touch. Seems these two really tried their best in marking her, huh…

"I guess now that we're done with the formalities, we can head back to the Academy?"

"Exactly, Cavendish. Speaking of which, you'll be helping me and Lotte tutor this hopeless mess."

"Hey, can it already! My grades have improved a lot since last year!" – Akko retorted.

"I don't really mean it, silly. But in all seriousness, you're not above some extra help, right? Plus, it's extra time with both your girlfriends~" – Sucy remarked, punctuating the last sentence in a sing-song voice.

"Maybe I can even set up a date for us three later today. Depends on where you two are in the mood to go to, though." – Diana said as the trio continued back on to Luna Nova.

"Considering our different definitions of a good dating place, I think we should just let Akko decide on this one. What do ya think, Akko? "

As both girls turned to face Akko, the brunette took a deep breath and gave her reply:

"For today, I think we'd just stay back at the Academy. I'm not feeling like going out anywhere, and besides…"

" **I think this decision will certainly satisfy everyone involved."**

* * *

 _Whew. For once, I have a properly finished story. Am I really glad to finally be done with this fic. Not that I didn't have fun writing it, but I felt like I've been spending too much time on it, and that's not counting how much I had to condense it. Yikes._

 _As I mentioned above, I'm probably going to write some sort of spin-off to this fic. Perhaps a one-shot collection focusing around this odd polyamorous bunch, perhaps? ;3_

 _Anyway, on to the bad news - I'm kinda struggling with my university work this year, to say the least. Not only that, but I was hit with a particularly nasty cold. Which means I feel even less up to doing a damn thing. And this sucks. Hopefully I won't end up late with the Web Design project._

 _Anyway, with only two major fics of mine left to work on - one almost finished, and the other off to a decent start..._

 ** _Darky_ _Out!_**


End file.
